The Fall of the Duke
by batu2pahat
Summary: Based on MW4: Black Knight. I've finally added a new chapter! Sorry for neglecting this fic for about a year now, busy in my final semester.
1. Prologue

_Author's note: This is a work of fiction, which means that I'll be playing about with the origin of some characters. This work of fiction itself may not be in line with the actual game storyline. My apologies if I do run out of line, and do pop a friendly review about it so I can attempt to remedy the error._

_Black Knight Legion Headquarters_

_Harlech__, Outreach_

_25th April 3063_

                Colonel Lawhorn sat quietly in his office, smoking a cigarette, while leafing through the folders which lay in front of him on his mahogany desk. The desk was empty save for the folders, a telephone and some stationery. He tossed the one he was just reading into a half-full box marked "Out!" on the floor next to him, shaking his head. He opened the very last folder and thumbed through the first few title pages to look for the page which was more interesting to him. Just then his desk telephone rang. He let it buzz twice before he picked it up, still looking through the page. 

                "Lawhorn."

                "Sir, next applicant's finally here. Want to meet him?"

                "Bring him in."

                Lawhorn replaced the phone on its cradle, and resumed his reading. Shortly afterward a sharp rap sounded on his door.

                Lawhorn stubbed out his cigarette and left it in his cigarette tray. Settling himself into a better position, he then called out curtly, "Come in."

                A stout and balding man walked in, sharply saluting the colonel. Lawhorn saluted back. The man then adopted a casual stand in front of the colonel. There wasn't a chair for him to sit in, anyway, which was what the colonel arranged for. The man cleared his throat and spoke first.

                "Sergeant Eric McLair reporting. Sorry for being late sir. The … umm …. rain held me up."

                Lawhorn smiled cynically. This man was a joker. He looked at the beautiful summer day outside. He decided to ignore the jibe.

                "I've heard of you, McLair. You've got a pretty damn good record, but you'll have to can that wise-cracking attitude if you want to be a lance leader."

                Eric McLair squirmed nervously, but it seemed a little artificial to Lawhorn, which made him smile more.

                "No problem about that, sir. Just thought a few jokes would help to lighten up the situation."

                "All right, you've got an idea of the situation now?"

                "Yes sir. Lieutenant Archer was killed in the fighting on Calderon IV, leaving a vacancy in the Legion for a lance leader. I'm here to apply for that post, sir."

                "Okay. Good enough. Striker Lance needs a new lance leader. Radcliffe's a reasonably good Mechwarrior but he's a bit too inexperienced to be a leader yet. Isabel is a pretty new addition, replacing Mechwarrior Larry who was incapacitated. I can't even get a third lancemate yet, I've yet to find a Mechwarrior to fill that vacancy." The colonel leaned forward, looking straight at Eric.

 "All in all, a tough lance to build up again. You're starting pretty much from scratch."

                "Leave it to me, sir. I'll get these riff-raffs into shape in no time. Just give me the chance," Eric claimed proudly.

                The colonel nodded his head slightly, smiling at Eric's eagerness.

                "I'll give it to you, Eric, but don't let it get to your head. We're short on good officers. Most of the new applicants are just too rigid and rule-abiding. I need fresh blood, lance leaders that know how, and when, to follow the rules. You've proven your versatility on Calderon IV, surviving the final rearguard action before we lifted off-planet."

                Lawhorn reclined back, taking a good look at Eric. Eric seemed ecstatic at his promotion, his hands twitching behind his back.

                "We lost a lot of good men on Calderon IV, Eric. Good men and Mechs. I can only give you light Mechs now, since Striker Lance is now to be just a recon lance. But if you do fulfill your promise and get your lance in tiptop shape, I'll consider bumping you all up to a medium lance. Got it …… Lieutenant?"

                Eric nodded, grinning widely at the mention of his promotion. "You got it, Colonel!"


	2. Hot Drop

_Black Knight Legion Headquarters_

_Harlech, Outreach_

_31st August 3063_

                Eric manoeuvred his Cougar into its dropship hold expertly, even adding a swagger to his Mech's movements. After all the training runs he had been facing for the past few months, he was at ease with his ride. He parked the Mech and powered it down before climbing out of his cockpit. One thing he hadn't got used to was the height of the Mech. He was barely 6 metres up in the air, compared to the average 11 metre-height of other Mechs, like the revered Mad Cat. A technician was waiting for him on the gantry next to his cockpit. 

"Done?"

                 Eric gave a thumbs-up to the technician. The technician proceeded with the rest of the preparations for lift-off while Eric climbed down the gantry to the dropship deck. Isabel and Radcliffe had just dismounted from their own Mechs as well. The three proceeded to the crew's quarters together.

                "What time are we blasting off for our destination?" Radcliffe asked Eric.

                "One or two more lances of Mechs and we're off to the Jumpship. Striker Lance was one of the last lances to board."

                "So we're finally going to see some action, huh? Where are we heading to anyway?" Radcliffe grinned.

                "Are you dying to earn your C-Bills?" Isabel poked. "Dying being the key word here."

                Eric cut in before Radcliffe could counter. His two lance-mates were quite often arguing needlessly.

                "Just get to the quarters and prep for lift-off. We're heading to some remote mining world near the Capellan border of the Fed Com. You don't want to be vomiting your lunch when we pull some G's in getting to our Jumpship later, so get moving!"

_Black Knight Legion Dropship Black Falcon_

_Federated Commonwealth – Capellan Confederation Border_

_4th September 3063_

There were a few other men and women from the other lances on the dropship already in the mission briefing room. Eric and his lance arrived just in time to hear the Colonel speaking over the speakers at the front of the room. He was still on the Legion Jumpship, the _Black Talon, and radio transmission was one of the easier ways of communicating to the 2 Legion dropships already burning hard for the mining planet. The Colonel would drop on to the planet with the remaining forces of the Legion later. _

"Good afternoon, Legionnaires. The Corvatti Corporation has contracted us to take care of some pirate raids on this remote mining world near the Capellan border of the Federated Commonwealth. It looks like the corporation had set up shop without any significant security survey. Now they're paying for it. We're on an open-ended contract to secure the Corvatti facilities and to eliminate the pirate threat. Check your mission overview for more detailed instructions."

"We don't know the size or the disposition of the pirate threat. We're not taking anything for granted. All light and medium lances will begin immediate recon of Corvatti mining facilities. Your tactical officer will keep you updated as we get a better picture of what we're up against. Stay sharp. Black Six, out."

                A while later, another voice came on. This time it was the sexy voice which belonged to the Legion's head of the tactical division, Mandrill.

                "You heard the Colonel. The Corvatti Corp sent me an intel report just half an hour ago, and it's not too good. They reported two mining facilities down and not responding since two days ago. Therefore it is assumed that the pirates are waiting for us, so we're taking this cautiously. Hammer and Echo lances are assigned to clear the LZ and pave the way for the Colonel's drop. Striker and Delta lances are going to be hot-dropped at the two different mining facilities for recon work. I'll be on hand to give directives as the mission progresses. Good luck, boys."

                "And girls too!" Isabel chided, even though Mandrill couldn't hear her. 

_Black Knight Legion Dropship Black Falcon_

_Corvatti Mining Colony HB-3_

_4th September 3063_

                Eric sat in the cockpit of his _Cougar, ready for the drop to the hostile world beneath. He had been studying the mission overview from Mandrill of the mining facility he had been tasked with, and the mission looked simple enough. But just to be safe, he was bringing in his whole lance: Radcliffe in his Clan __Uller (or the __Kit Fox) and Isabel in her __Osiris. Currently the two were exchanging jibes again, but Eric was taking this seriously. It would be his first time commanding his lance into battle against an unknown enemy. Previously he had only been in live simulation exercises with the other lances, but now it's an unknown he would be facing. No way he's going to screw up this one. _

                The planet was cold and lifeless, which meant an ejection would be fatal. Hardly any atmosphere at all. Plenty of crystal growths all over the planet, some even reaching the size of a Mech. They wouldn't damage his armour, but they would make visual targeting tricky. The ground looked dull and grey. No wonder it was uninhabitable. Only miners could tolerate this place, Eric sneered. 

                A green light beeped for attention, signalling that they were approaching the drop zone.

                "5 minutes to the drop zone! Double-check your systems and prep for drop!" Eric warned his lance-mates.

                "Got it, Eric."

                "Sheesh, lighten up Eric! We're probably going up against a few vehicles and light Mechs. No worry now, is there?"

                "Radcliffe ……." Eric didn't have to raise his voice.

                "Roger that sir!"

                Their landing was quite smooth, thanks to the light atmosphere and the fact that they were piloting light Mechs. As soon as they touched down, Eric radioed Mandrill for further instructions. 

"Striker Lance, proceed to designated coordinates and report on condition of mining facility. The last transmission received was two days ago. Hostile presence is likely. Check all nav points and report any hostile contacts as priority traffic."

Radcliffe had to make a comment. "Looks like Striker Lance gets to clean up a messy little corporate write-off!"

Eric rolled his eyes, taking his eyes off his Mech controls for a while. 

"Stow it, Radcliffe. The sooner we run these points, the sooner I can get back to fleecing you at cards."

"Better work than facing down Clanners or Fed Com regulars any day," Isabel chipped in.

"My point, dear Isabel, the corporation gives no thought to the miners. They are acceptable write-offs in determining just how secure the planet is. Their precious facilities on the other hand ..." Radcliffe trailed off.

Eric had enough. Mandrill must have been grinning at the exchange between his lance-mates.

"You can both write off your next sleep cycles if you don't give a ready report and clear the comm!"

That caught their attention.

Radcliffe: "Striker Two, ready for op, over."

Isabel : "Striker Three, ready for op, over."

Eric shook his head, then reported, "Mandrill, this is Striker Lead. We report ready op."

There wasn't a sign of glee in Mandrill's voice, but then she's almost always serious. "Roger Striker One. Uptime is 0615. Mandrill out."

"Let's move it!" 

A/N: Sorry for the extremely slow writing. I haven't even started the action yet. I've been busy with a few things, two of them being Mechwarrior 4: Mercenaries and Warcraft III, heh! I just can't seem to write well enough, usually feeling that I've got to revise it to sound better. Perhaps some more reviews would help? BTW, Mr. Nice Guy, thanks for the review. I have to admit I don't like light Mechs, though I would agree that they are needed for recon work. However since most great Mechwarriors never pilot light Mechs into major battles, at the very least bringing in medium Mechs, I'd never dare to think myself THAT great a pilot to bring in a light Mech to spearhead an assault. Try finishing any of the Mechwarrior 4 games with only a Cougar and then you can even beat Kai Allard-Liao :o)

A/N 2 : Thanks a lot to Dire Wolf for the corrections! Man it's embarrassing :)


	3. Pitched Battle

_Black Knight Legion Dropship Black Falcon_

_Corvatti Mining Colony HB-3_

_4th September 3063_

_                The three Mechs had barely been on full throttle for a few minutes when Radcliffe called out a warning. _

                "Contact! 800 metres. Looks like light vehicles only."

 "Looks like we've got company." Isabel's voice was tinged with a little fear. Or was it eagerness?

Eric saw the targets too, now visible from afar as a rolling dust cloud. His Beagle Active Probe painted them as 4 separate targets, just Bulldogs. Tanks armed with a large laser, machine guns and SRM2 missiles, they were nasty to a Mech when in large groups. However, not against 3 light Mechs! The tanks did not seem to believe that, though, and seemed intent on engaging them. 

"Roger. Let's take these guys out before they make us."

Being the slower Mech, Eric was outrun by his lance mates. Isabel ran her _Osiris up to a ridge in front of the tank group and let loose her fusillade of 5 medium lasers on a single tank, while Radcliffe chose to run around back to the rear of the column and harass one of the other tanks with his twin ER large lasers. Well, if you'd call blasting through the tank's rear armour harassing. The particular tank stopped in its tracks, and smoke poured out from its innards. _

Eric wanted a quick clean kill too. He saw a third tank trying to run over a ridge to hit Isabel's back. They must not have noticed the third Mech right behind her. Fatal mistake.

Eric proved it when he fired two ER large lasers into the tank, piercing the armour and exploding the ammunition storage within the tank. None of the crew members would survive, something that Eric didn't exactly wish for, but he had got used to death ever since his lance was mutilated on Calderon IV. The thought of that place brought a few sad memories to his head. But there was no time for reminiscing. His _Cougar was already chasing after the fourth tank, passing by a badly scarred Bulldog that was Isabel's initial target._

Isabel polished off her target while Radcliffe tried to nail that last tank. Finally getting wiser, the tank was trying to break free of the situation and escape. It had run into a depression between the ridges and was trying to slink away. But a tracked vehicle could never outrun a Mech. Radcliffe proceeded on his chase with deadly intent. Eric let him chase the tank, mindful of not letting Isabel get left behind. Just as Isabel was catching up to Eric's position, a call came in from Mandrill. 

"Striker Lead, we just detected an encrypted burst transmission from your vicinity. Report status."

Eric slammed a fist on his arm rest. The remaining tank had sent a distress call out!

"They made us, sir," Isabel remarked. 

Eric told Mandrill not to worry. Radcliffe made his kill, though a little too late to silence the crew. They caught up to Radcliffe and proceeded to nav Beta. 

                His BAP beeped a threat to him. A Mech! Finally some serious action. The probe informed him that it was a _Osiris, similar to Isabel's. _

                "Mandrill, we're now engaging a Mech, repeat, an enemy _Osiris in the vicinity of nav Beta."_

                "Got it, Striker Lead. Proceed with caution and neutralise all the enemy threats before proceeding to the mining facility at nav Gamma."

                'Time for some fun', Eric mused. He told Radcliffe to pepper the bogey with his LRMs while Isabel worked in a little closer so her medium lasers would be useful. He himself switched to his LRMs and joined Radcliffe in launching his spread of death. They got up on a hill and locked on to the _Osiris, which was still trying to close in to use its main armaments. 30 LRMs erupted from their launchers. Desperate to avoid the warheads, the pilot threw his Mech to the ground, ducking behind a small rise. Most of the missiles impacted on crystals or the dull ground. Eric blinked his eyes at the crude evasion, knowing that the Mech would get hell from them while trying to get back up. The manoeuvre would already give the pilot a big shake, not to mention shave off quite a bit of armour. Already Isabel was near it, and he could see her medium lasers flashing away at the prone Mech. _

                "That must be a greenie, maybe an idiot. Who the heck would charge 3 Mechs, in the first place?" Radcliffe sniggered.

                Just then his BAP announced newer threats: another two _Osiris, plus a __Shadowcat! They appeared on the far side of where Isabel was making mincemeat of the fallen __Osiris. The __Shadowcat was armed with Clan weaponry, and quite capable of battering Isabel all by itself. With two more friends, this could turn brutal. Isabel must have just noticed them, for she started to back off from the first __Osiris, which was still lying on the ground. Still, she loosed off a few medium laser shots in an effort to bring the Mech down permanently before the battle was joined. _

                "Isabel!! Pull back to our position now! You've got bogeys bearing in on you!" 

                Eric hit his throttle to the maximum, understanding the danger to Isabel now. Perhaps it was a crude tactic, but the first _Osiris was being bait for Isabel. Now the odds were slightly against them. Well, Eric would change that fact soon enough. The new threats were primarily medium range fighters, easy picking for his customised long-range weaponry. Isabel was now pulling back to his position, and Radcliffe was also catching up with his lance leader._

                Suddenly, a fast projectile flew straight into Isabel's Mech, crunching armour plates on her torso. Then came the sound of a crackling thunder: the unmistakable sound of a Gauss rifle discharging. That _Shadowcat had a Gauss rifle! Able to hit targets at almost one kilometre distance, it was capable of tearing apart armour from Isabel's __Osiris and brutalising her internals. Fortunately for Isabel, she had not suffered a breach yet and managed to maintain her Mech upright. She forgot her initial target and was busy trying to seek cover._

                "Damn! I've lost almost all armour on my left torso! I need some help here sir!"

                That shot, from so far out, told Eric that the enemy pilot was a pretty good shot. He radioed Isabel to pull back as fast as she could, while Radcliffe and him would try to draw the attacker's attention. Time for the two men to save the damsel in distress, Eric thought grimly.

                Hopefully, none of them would get a Gauss slug in the cockpit for that.

                The distance closed and Eric had a glimpse of an _Osiris in the distance. Eager to catch their attention, he fired his ER large lasers at the Mech. Armour melted off the centre torso, though not enough to expose the internals of the Mech yet. His LRMs acquired a lock and he thumbed the launch trigger. Unfortunately the Mech ran behind a rise just in time to avoid most of the 20 missiles. But at the least Eric was sure he caught their attention now. Radcliffe reported that he was engaging the third __Osiris. But where was that damned __Shadowcat?_

                Eric checked his sensors and found it running up a rise. It probably wanted to stand on a high position where it could snipe better while its lance mates distracted them. 'Not a chance, pirate!' Eric smirked.

                His lasers cycled and he managed to attain a decent lock on the _Shadowcat before firing his lasers, impacting on the enemy's right leg. The warmth of his cockpit started to reach new zeniths, but his cooling vest kept him alive. Luckily his heat sinks were more efficient in this environment, otherwise he might have cooked off his LRM ammunition if he kept on shooting. The __Shadowcat saw the danger now that he was noticed, so it crept back down from the rise to close in on Eric. Eric would gladly oblige. Though his LRMs would be quite useless at short range, he would stand a better chance of avoiding that murderous Gauss rifle by sticking to the Mech's back, and that needed closer contact. Radcliffe was complaining about getting hammered by SRMs from the __Osiris, but Eric had to worry about the __Shadowcat first. Speaking of __Osiris, weren't there two other __Osiris?? _

                Sensors warned him of a missile threat on his left flank, but it was a bit too late. The other _Osiris Eric had hit earlier was back, with a vengeance (**A/N: Cliché, huh?). The SRMs smacked all over his Mech, but causing no serious damage. He turned to meet the new threat, firing one ER large laser to ward off further attacks. The shot missed. However he quickly followed up with the second laser, burning away armour from the left torso. The Mech dashed around to Eric's back. Eric turned in the opposite direction, just in time to catch the **__Osiris before it blasted his rear armour and launched his LRMs at the Mech, even without a good lock. A few warheads exploded on the __Osiris but their impact was enough to throw off the pilot's aim for a while. _

                Eric checked his sensors and saw that the Shadowcat was now approaching his rear. Leg damage from his earlier hit was slowing it a bit.

                "How the heck am I to face two Mechs at once?" he mumbled. Gritting his teeth, he knew it could get ugly in a few more seconds. Just then, there was an explosion on his far right, where Isabel had fled to. Fearing the worst, Eric consulted his sensors but amazingly found her still up and running. Her triumphant voice confirmed her status.

                "One kill, sir! I finally nailed that blasted _Osiris that got me in that ambush!"_

                Eric smiled. The tide was turning. Still, he had to finish off this pesky _Osiris. The Mech burned away armour on his right hand, while its machine gun hammered at his torso. Annoyed by the attack, he planted his reticule on the Mech's torso just as both his lasers cycled free. Eric hit the reverse throttle while mashing the trigger button contemptuously. For a moment there, Eric thought the lasers weren't enough to core the Mech. But his LRMs had gouged a few holes in the centre torso, enough to expose the reactor shielding, and by luck his shot had been right on target. The enemy pilot swiftly dropped the dampening fields before the Mech went critical, but the Mech now fell into a useless heap on the ground. _

                He didn't have time to crow about his victory. The _Shadowcat was now rushing in, eager to claim revenge. But the heat levels in the __Cougar was coming close to critical. Eric had to pull back or overload his reactor. On his sensors, he saw that Radcliffe was coming off his engagement quite well. The opposing __Osiris was short on armour to begin with, and Radcliffe was a pretty good shot. But he wouldn't be able to back Eric up yet. Neither could Isabel, who was limping towards him after her fight with the other __Osiris. He'll have to face this pirate alone._

                The _Shadowcat caught him just as he was about to back down below a mound. The enemy pilot was unsure of his aim so he only loosed his Streak missiles and fired two ER medium lasers. The missiles shook his Mech but fortunately the lasers missed. The __Cougar damage schematic was painting a pretty bad picture for Eric. Already wounded from the fight with the __Osiris, he wasn't sure if he could take on a medium Mech by himself. _

                Quite suddenly, the _Shadowcat ignited its jump jets. It intended to close with Eric! Eric refused to follow and fired his jump jets to propel him away from the __Shadowcat. The __Shadowcat pilot got impatient, and fired his large laser while in mid-flight, missing the __Cougar by metres. Eric twisted his Mech around in mid-air to face the __Shadowcat and fired his lasers at his antagonist. The manoeuvre took too much effort and the shots missed cleanly, but it allowed his LRMs to lock on just in time for Eric to launch a volley at the still flying __Shadowcat. Almost 20 rounds impacted on the Mech, rocking its gyro and sending the Mech crashing to the ground. It didn't stay prone for long, though, the pilot was so incensed that he quickly got up and tried to impale Eric with a Gauss slug. Eric had just landed, and was caught unawares. The shot missed his cockpit, but instead it sheared off his left arm completely. The computer announced the loss of the laser there. Eric cursed, and fired his remaining laser. It melted armour off the left torso of the __Shadowcat, but did not create a breach he so desperately needed to bring down the Mech. Lasers flashed out from the enemy Mech, washing over his cockpit. Eric instinctively covered his eyes after being flash-blinded._

                "Argh!"

                Isabel and Radcliffe were immediately asking him about what happened. Eric didn't have time to answer, on instinct he activated his jump jets quickly to avoid further damage, even when blinded. It was most fortunate because the _Shadowcat filled the space which he had left with a barrage of lasers and missiles. A few missiles scarred his Mech's legs, sending him into a slight crash to the ground behind another rise. Alarms rang as the computer reported a damaged leg actuator. Eric felt panic, but wasn't prepared to die in the mud like that. He swiftly brought his Mech up again, while the __Shadowcat closed in on his position. The situation was desperate. Eric fired his lasers and LRMs, all without a lock, in a bid to throw off the enemy's aim. The __Shadowcat pilot was good, though. It weathered a few missiles and then planted a large laser shot on Eric's centre torso. Another alarm rang, signifying internal damage. Eric tried to jump again but the heat levels in the Mech were too high. The Mech was responding sluggishly already. Without a way to eject, Eric could only wait for the Gauss slug to end his life._

                Until a barrage of laser fire and missiles rained upon the _Shadowcat! The Mech staggered, its aim ruined. Eric glanced higher up and saw Isabel and Radcliffe raining as much fire on the Mech as they could. _

                "Care to help us finish him off, sir?" Radcliffe taunted.

                Eric smiled, partly in the knowledge that he would survive this battle, and the retribution he would wreak upon Radcliffe for that comment later. The _Shadowcat was battered, and attempting to back away. Eric heard the LRM lock tone and didn't spare another thought. The missiles smashed into the crippled Mech, which then crumpled to the ground. The pilot didn't make it. Eric sighed, as he would've wished to meet that pilot. He was obviously a worthy opponent. But on the other hand, it was either him or Eric dead. He'd prefer the way it turned out. _

The mining facility was garrisoned by a few static LRM emplacements, but Eric detected the location of the two turret controls and sent in Radcliffe to destroy them. Not that he wouldn't have gone in himself, but his Mech was in really bad shape. Same went for Isabel. Radcliffe took down the other _Osiris without much damage, so he was the best to finish the job._

"Mandrill, this is Striker One. All hostiles at Nav Gamma have been neutralized. Request infantry support to sweep mining complex and subterranean facilities," Eric radioed.

"Roger Striker One. Infantry support is on route. Secure station until their arrival and report to Tac Com for mission debrief." Mandrill didn't have a clue to how tough the fight was. Eric suppressed a complaint about her lack of concern and radioed back a simple reply.

"Roger Mandrill. Orders received. Striker One, out." 

He keyed his lance's comm line. "Good work, Striker Lance. Keep it up and we'll be off this rock in no time."

                Suddenly another voice broke in. "Great work, Eric. We've given them something to fear."

                Eric smiled. So the Colonel had been monitoring their fight, after all. At the least he felt gratified now. Of course, he would feel more gratified later, after a good bath and hours of sleep!

A/N: Extremely long fight scene, huh? Just wondering if it would appeal to fan fic readers. Sorry if it is too long-winded. Later missions would probably be shorter. 


	4. Stealth Strike

_Black Knight Legion Dropship Black Falcon_

_Corvatti Mining Colony HB-3_

_8th September 3063_

_                From the ground, Eric stared up at his __Cougar's cockpit while running his hands over the metal foot. He saw the slightly irregular armour plates around the cockpit, remainders of the repairs which the techs did after the other day's battle. He didn't know then, how close he was to being sent home readily cremated. The lasers of the __Shadowcat had practically washed away all the armour and came inches from cracking the cockpit glass as well, exposing him to the partial vacuum outside. The Mech had kept him safe and alive. It seemed to sense his gratitude, gleaming ever brighter in the lights of the hangar. Even years after piloting Mechs, Eric still felt awe at the technology and power of them. This might be a light Mech but it had served him well._

                But he was now switching to a _Hellspawn, a slightly heavier Mech which would serve him better in the upcoming mission, where he would serve alone. Since he'll be outnumbered on the field, he'd need more armour to survive. The __Cougar would most likely be handed over to Radcliffe. He found himself with conflicting feelings now, wondering to stick to his original mount or not. However, Radcliffe seemed too eager to jump into a new Mech. _

                'Well, better not disappoint the old boy,' Eric sighed. He'll give the _Cougar to Radcliffe. He earned it when he helped save Eric the few days ago. Eric patted the foot gently and then walked away, never looking back. _

_Black Knight Legion Dropship Black Falcon_

_Corvatti Mining Colony HB-3_

_10th September 3063_

The Colonel's voice came over the comm. line.

"Okay Striker One. Let's go over the op order one last time. You will proceed to Nav Alpha as directed by Mandrill and take up a firing position on the pirate base. Destroy their local oxygen and water supply. When the base defenders move on your position, pull back to Nav Gamma, where Alpha Lance will be waiting, powered down in the crystals. Should be a straightforward ambush and breaking their heavy lance should show these lousy pirates how out-classed they are."

Eric started his _Hellspawn on a trot towards nav Alpha after checking his systems for any problems. He had been just hot-dropped a few kilometres away from a temporary pirate base, which the Black Legion intelligence division had located after interrogating some of the captured pirate infantry at the mining facility Eric's lance reclaimed. A few kilometres behind him, Colonel Lawhorn and his personal command were slowly rallying at nav Gamma. _

Tongue in cheek, Eric keyed a reply to the Colonel. "Roger that, sir. I got no problem being the bait for this little trap of yours. Just make sure you're ready to rock when I clear the ridge at Gamma."

The Colonel chuckled. "No worries, Lieutenant. I'm running short on wise-ass lance commanders; we'll have a hell of a time replacing you. Black Six, out."

It was a pretty big honour to be awarded this mission. The Colonel was impressed with Eric's handling of the situation a few days back, in the face of some bad odds, and thought that Eric would do well as a bait. Eric didn't quite agree much (who would?) , but it was an honour to fight alongside the Colonel, anyhow, so he accepted. 

Without BAP, Eric had a slight disadvantage over sensors, but he had an ECM suite instead. It would do well to mask his entry into the base grounds. 

His sensors picked up a group of 6 Bulldog tanks patrolling the stretch of land between him and nav Alpha. They haven't seen him yet, so Eric felt that he ought to stay out of their way. No sense alerting the base to his presence yet. Consulting the terrain map given to him by Mandrill earlier, he found that he could approach nav Alpha stealthily from nav Beta. He changed his course eastward and ran to nav Beta, which was a ridge near southern edge of the base. His sensors detected a _Thor patrolling the eastern edge of the base. Now that was worrisome. The Clan Mech had the speed and firepower to take him down all by itself. He hoped the Mech wouldn't be in his way when he retreated to nav Gamma. _

When he reached nav Alpha, Mandrill sent him a communiqué. "Striker One, this is Mandrill. From the top of the ridge at Alpha, you should be able to make out the firebase. The oxygen tanks should be visible on the far left edge of the base. Destroying any tank should take them all out in the secondary explosions. To the right is the main H20 processor. Disabling it should put a severe cramp on their sustainability here."

Eric keyed his mike twice to show that he understood, and surveyed the scene. The tanks were nowhere on his scanners, but there were signs of Mechs patrolling this south-western area. Funny that he didn't pick up anything besides the tanks. He put the doubts aside as he lined up his LRM launchers on one of the oxygen tanks. He noted with satisfaction a few fuel tanks around the oxygen tanks as well. He'd be knocking out the fuel supplies for this base as well! The pirates were really dumb, placing so much combustible material near each other. He wouldn't be surprised if they'd blow themselves up by smoking around the place too. It just needed a spark.

"Well, wait no longer. Here comes the spark, boys!" Eric said to himself, and thumbed his trigger.

10 LRMs sailed into the sky, flying straight into the bunch of oxygen tanks. A few LRMs missed the tank and smashed into other structures, but with that many tanks around, they couldn't miss the other oxygen tanks. The few missiles tore apart the thin armour on the target tank, and then the fireworks began. Like a domino effect, one tank after the other blew, and when the fuel tanks caught fire too, the explosion threw debris almost 50 metres into the lifeless sky. Alarms started to ring around the base, and activity was increasing.

Mandrill reported, "Excellent shot! The chain reaction has destroyed 80% of their O2 supply!"

Eric didn't reply. Not planning to be around when the pirates came out in numbers, he swiftly made his way to nav Beta and fired a barrage of LRMs at the water processor. It was harder to come down, but 20 LRMs did create quite an impression. Just to be sure, Eric waited for his LRMs to cycle before firing a second salvo. His sensors warned him that the _Thor and a __Shadowcat were fast approaching from different directions. The second salvo completely flattened the structure, and Eric saw water globules floating off into the semi-vacuum._

"Great work, Striker Lance. We read all targets destroyed. Raven Wing relays 4 Mechs powering up and 3 more moving in from the east. Fall back by quickest route to Gamma." 

Eric keyed his mike twice in response to Mandrill and swiftly turned his Mech away from the base. He heard the Mech groan as he forced it to run at its top speed from the base. Already he was getting nervous. 7 Mechs?! He checked his sensors and found a _Mad Cat and another two __Shadowcats powering up in the base and making haste to cut off his retreat. The tanks were still off the screen, fortunately. He couldn't see the fourth Mech reportedly being in the base, so it must be utilising ECM. No time to find out what Mech was that. There was only time to run! _

He was coming over a ridge barely half a kilometre from the base when his sensors threw a new warning at him. Enemy Mech on his right flank!! It was another _Hellspawn, which he must have not picked up on his way in. The enemy pilot was intent on engaging Eric, and moved to intercept him. Behind the enemy, the tanks were rolling in to back him up. The situation was getting bad. Beads of sweat formed on Eric's forehead, and not all from the effort of keeping his Mech steady during its run. _

The enemy Mech appeared at the top of a ridge and fired its LRMs at Eric. There was no missile lock, and most of them ploughed into the ground in front of him. But the main purpose of the salvo was to slow Eric down, and it worked. Eric had to swerve to avoid the salvo, but he kept his reticule on the pesky Mech all the time. His LRMs locked on and about 10 LRMs pounded the other Mech, forcing it down below the ridge again. Eric throttled back up to full speed, intent on disengaging the Mech and surviving the conflict. The _Hellspawn started to run back up the ridge to face him. Eric saw that the __Thor was soon within visual range of him, and didn't want to face the Ultra autocannons on the heavy Mech. If that didn't kill him, the LRMs on the __Mad Cat would. _

"No time to play, little boy. Stop me if you can," Eric mumbled. He deftly piloted his Mech towards the _Hellspawn, which had now crested the ridge and was charging down at Eric. He blasted it with his 3 medium pulse lasers, burning away armour from its chest and arms. The other pilot must not have expected the manoeuvre, anticipating a dodge from Eric instead. His LRMs missed Eric completely. Only the fast recharging lasers scoured a bit of armour from Eric's right torso. Eric kept barrelling at the enemy._

The enemy pilot started to panic. He started to back up the ridge, trying to avoid Eric from smashing into him. 

Fortunately for the enemy, that wasn't Eric's idea at all. He hit his jump jets and sailed over the enemy Mech, his feet barely missing the enemy cockpit by a metre. The _Hellspawn must have realised it and tried to knock Eric's balance off, but it wasn't easy to aim at such a fast-moving target. Eric landed behind the ridge and continued to make his way to nav Gamma. The __Hellspawn gave chase, but could only bring its LRMs to bear as Eric had rapidly moved out of his pulse lasers range already. Eric's ECM managed to deviate a few incoming missiles but quite a number smashed into his back. His rear armour held, but a second salvo could've penetrated it. Eric tried a few dodging manoeuvres to confuse the enemy pilot. Nav Gamma drew closer. Salvation was at hand! He checked his sensors and picked up the three __Shadowcats fast catching up. The other two heavies weren't far behind either. Just perfect for the ambush. _

Eric managed to avoid the second salvo from the _Hellspawn and reached the ridge in time, and throttled down. He saw a __Black Knight and three __Mad Cats in low-power mode, ready to pounce on the __Hellspawn. The Mech, without any BAP to detect the four powered down Mechs, ran over the ridge eager to claim a kill. Eric could feel the shock and fear of the pilot when it saw the four heavy Mechs blocking its path to Eric. It started to back up. _

"Black Six to Alpha Lance. Let's take them out." The 4 Mechs powered up and didn't let the _Hellspawn get away. Laser fire cored deep into the __Hellspawn, and Eric felt pity for the enemy pilot for a while when the Mech crashed to the ground, its innards completely gutted. But then it was a dog-eat-dog world here, and anyway these pirates didn't deserve any pity for the havoc and death they have wreaked. _

Eric watched as Corporal Adan, Sergeants Lustig and Anders lined up their _Mad Cats next to the Colonel's __Black Knight on top of the ridge. The enemy Mechs were still charging in, unaware of the sudden demise of their friend. They'd know about it soon enough, but too late to save themselves. _

More than hundred LRMs took flight, each locked on to the three _Shadowcats closest to the lance. The Colonel, armed exclusively with laser weapons only, fired his large lasers at the Mechs, further adding to the confusion. Then the lance ran down towards the enemy Mechs._

Eric walked up behind them and decided not be left out of the battle as well. When he came over the ridge, he saw that two of the _Shadowcats were limping, easy prey for the Alpha lance members. Eric didn't really need to join in the fight, as the remaining forces were almost outmassed by the Colonel's lance. But he would do his best to help. He showered one of the gravely wounded __Shadowcats with LRMs while running towards the battle. Corporal Adan finished it off with a blast of his two ER large lasers and two ER medium lasers, reaching deep inside to crack open the reactor shielding and forcing the pilot to shutdown his Mech. The second __Shadowcat tried to flee, only to be caught in the LRM salvos and scathing laser blasts of the two sergeants. It crashed to the ground in a heap and never got up again. Colonel Lawhorn raked the third __Shadowcat with his large lasers and medium lasers, melting away enough armour to topple the Mech to the ground. The pilot saw the futility of its situation and announced his surrender over the general frequencies, powering down his Mech even faster than you could blink an eye. Eric grinned. The ambush was working well. There only remained the heavy Mechs and the ECM-equipped Mech. _

Hey, where was that last Mech?

A swift check of the sensors revealed only the _Mad Cat and __Thor in the vicinity. Even the enemy tanks had pulled back to the base, not willing to slug it out with such an elite lance of pilots. If the third Mech had successfully fled to the base, they could not engage it any longer. A short check with Mandrill revealed that the Mech had indeed followed the tanks back to the base, and seemed to be evacuating the base. _

Eric tried to launch his LRMs to support Alpha lance in taking down the remaining _Thor, but the Mech pilot proved to be quite dodgy. It was desperately trying to flee, but its armour was in tatters. Laser fire continued to slag its armour, some reaching into its internals. The __Mad Cat had already went down in flames, brought down by the concentrated salvos of the whole lance. Soon, the __Thor radioed its surrender and shut down. Eric felt a pang of regret, which usually came after the action had ended. He didn't even take down a single Mech! What a disappointment. The consolation was that his Mech has largely untouched, save for his rear armour._

Eric formed up on the Colonel's right flank. The _Black Knight was scarred in quite a number of places but still with enough armour to join another battle. The Colonel turned his cockpit to face Eric._

"Good work Striker One. Remind me back at base to work out a lance upgrade for you."

Eric flushed with pride and happiness. A lance upgrade! And so soon! The other lance leaders would be so envious of him. However, Eric decided to push his luck.

"Roger. There is this new _Nova Cat I noticed in the latest quartermaster report ….."  _

The Colonel laughed. "Ha ha .... easy there Eric. Something in the medium range should suffice for now."

Eric grinned. It was enough, for now. At the least he could bring in more firepower. 

Mandrill spoke up. This time her voice reflected some cheeriness, probably relief from the fact that the ambush had went off without a hitch. "Tactical command shows zero hostiles on scope. Remaining pirates have evacuated to the east. Alpha and Striker lances return to base, heading 285."

Eric was tempted to quip about Striker lance being only the size of one Mech, but kept his mouth shut. No point in cracking too many jokes in a mission.

A/N : This mission had less action, I didn't really feel that Eric could've done much anyway, unless he wanted to get in the way. I made an embarrassing mistake in my last chapter, all right! Thanks to Mr. Nice Guy for the notice. I had outfitted the pirate _Shadowcat with too much armament. I actually had removed the jump jets and some armour when I customised the Mech, but then in the story I let the Mech jump around like a rabbit. I thought of changing it all but I think I'm a bit lazy :P _

 Sorry for the mistake, I try not to repeat such things. 

Angel_Unit2, I agree that a scout unit shouldn't be slugging it out with other Mechs. I'm just trying to play along with the Black Knight storyline, so sorry but I can't help it. I've got plenty of loopholes in the storyline to explain already, like why would some stupid pirates plant their precious oxygen and water supplies near the outer periphery of their base, which I might add was not defended by any static emplacements!


	5. Convoy Escort

_Black Knight Legion Dropship Black Falcon_

_Corvatti Mining Colony HB-3_

_15th September 3063_

_                A few days have passed since the destruction of the pirate firebase, and so far Eric's lance had only been assigned to simple missions like escorts and patrols, which all went quietly. There had been a few more pirate attacks, each usually carried out by lances of light Mechs, but none of the action came to Striker lance's mission areas. Eric took the chance to get used to his new __Uziel, and also some time to customise it for his use. Isabel had traded in her __Osiris for the __Hellspawn Eric had used in the last mission while Radcliffe had upgraded his Mech to a __Shadowcat, salvaged from Eric's mission. Eric's __Uziel sported a Clan ER PPC as well as a IS PPC due to the fact that the quartermaster didn't have enough ER PPCs to spare. He removed his machine guns and SRMs to squeeze in extra armour and two Streak SRM4s. Hopefully he wouldn't fry himself alive with that kind of configuration, but then he wanted the extra firepower. _

                Well, now he would see why he would need the armament. 

                Mandrill sent him an audio briefing to his Mech just a few minutes ago, detailing his mission for that day. 

                "Your next mission would be a convoy escort. Flanker lance is bringing the convoy in from Sector Four. Striker lance will rendezvous with Flanker at the designated nav point and continue escorting the convoy on to the supply depot. A light Mech was sighted carrying out recon on the depot just yesterday. Expect an attack to occur anytime soon."

                Eric turned off the player in his cockpit and double-checked his systems before throttling his Mech forward, leaving the Mech hangar and boarding a dropship bound for their mission area. He opened a line on his lance's frequency.

                "Form up on me, Striker lance. We've got work to do, and I don't want to be late."

                Radcliffe and Isabel replied with sighs and groans about the non-stop work they've been having, but complied anyway. Soon they were dropped near the designated nav point where they would meet Flanker lance. Mandrill's voice came on again in Eric's cockpit. She was being overworked, watching over almost all the Legion's troops in the field, but she didn't mind checking in on the wise-cracking Eric now and then. She repeated her orders to Eric.

                "Striker Lance, proceed to Nav Alpha and relieve Flanker Lance from escort duty with Corvatti miner convoy. Escort the convoy along the Nav route to the supply depot and report any pirate contacts."

                Then she added a warning. "The haulers you are escorting are loaded with volatile crystals, so be cautious of collateral damage."

                Eric winced, feeling slighted at being warned of such an obvious fact, but kept quiet about it and just replied affirmatively to Mandrill. He started his _Uziel trotting towards the nav point with his lance-mates in tow._

                Isabel opened a comm. link. "Nice ride, sir. Looks like Striker lance is going places!"

                Eric smiled, and was about to make another wise-crack when Radcliffe chimed in. "Preferably some place other than this dreadful pirate-besieged rock!"

                Eric rolled his eyes. "Can it, Striker Two. Get your head in the mission. We'll be done with the pirates soon enough, and the word is the Colonel has been talking to a Steiner liaison about Kentares IV. Could be a big contract."

                "Looks like we're getting called up to the big leagues," Isabel replied enthusiastically. 

                Sounding slightly miffed, Radcliffe only replied with a statement. "There's the convoy, sir."

                Eric was going to fire back that he'd already seen the convoy long before Radcliffe's squat _Shadowcat did, but decided not to push the issue. He stopped his Mech at the nav point and watched as the convoy come up to their position. A __Chimera and two __Osiris walked alongside the haulers, dwarfing the tracked vehicles. Eric opened a comm. line on the Legion's general frequencies._

_                "Flanker One, this is Striker One, reporting ready to escort Corvatti convoy."_

                The _Chimera approached Eric's __Uziel, marked Flanker One on Eric's IFF. It was one of Eric's pals, Greg._

                "Roger that. Congratulations on the lance upgrade, Eric. When you get done watching these corporate crawlers, let's head out for a round at the cantina."

                Eric smiled at Greg's use of the word "crawlers". Mechwarriors often held most tracked vehicles in low regard, probably all except heavier vehicles like the Shrek or the Challenger_ X__ MBT. _

_                "Thanks Greg, I'll rouse you when we get in. Striker out."_

                Eric switched frequencies to the one the convoy was using.

                "Corvatti convoy, this is Black Legion Striker One. We're here to escort you into supply depot."

                "Roger Striker One. This is convoy leader, uploading route. Next point is marked Beta." 

                Data flowed in on his nav computer and Eric saw his nav markers being updated.

                "Roger, marking next point Beta."

                Isabel walked to the back of the convoy column while Eric and Radcliffe took the right and left flanks respectively. Once in position, the convoy started its crawl to the supply depot.

                They approached nav Beta slowly. A high cliff towered over the nav point, which would be a perfect spot for an ambush. Eric sent in Radcliffe to scout the area first, while he marched in front of the column. Part of him hoped for a safe trip, but another part of him yearned for the action that his lance had been partially denied for the past few days. 

                His yearnings were answered, and safety cast to the winds.

                "Striker One! Reporting two hostile contacts, _Cougars in the vicinity! One bogey on the cliff, the second one is engaging me. Request backup!"_

                Radcliffe updated their tac maps with the location of the bogeys. Eric told Isabel to remain as a rear-guard, in case some pirates come in from behind. The convoy would remain on course, maintaining their current speed. Not that they could go any faster, anyway. He throttled his Mech to the maximum, surging ahead of the column, while activating his radio.

                "Mandrill, this is Striker One. Engaging two pirate Mechs along convoy route."

                Mandrill responded almost instantly. "Roger Striker One. Engage at your discretion but ensure safety of the convoy. Mandrill out."

                Eric was thinking about requesting support, but then his lance should be heavy enough to fight out of this battle, for now. Just then, a missile lock warning sounded. Enemy LRMs! He saw a flight of LRMs rocketing up into the thin atmosphere from a _Cougar and then down towards his Mech. Not willing to lose so much armour at the start of the battle, he activated his jump jets and managed to avoid a few rounds. Almost 15 rounds battered his torso armour, exploding almost a tonne of armour but creating no breach. Fighting to keep his controls steady, Eric cursed his luck.  He sighted the infernal __Cougar standing on the cliff, pulling back down the hill while cycling its LRMs. At the base of the cliff, Radcliffe was slugging it out with the second __Cougar, which was obviously intimidated by the fact that Radcliffe was piloting a larger chassis. Eric decided to join in the fight, since he would be unable to engage the other __Cougar straight-out yet. He throttled down while taking careful aim at the __Cougar, which wasn't aware of the medium Mech menace coming closer on its left side._

                Two PPC bolts smashed into the rear left torso of the _Cougar, wreaking substantial damage and actually penetrating the armour to spark an internal explosion in the __Cougar. The LRM ammunition stores went up in a resounding explosion, tearing off the left arm and throwing the Mech to the ground. Amazingly the Mech didn't explode, but the sensitive gyroscope had been torn apart by the explosion, rendering the Mech useless. The hapless Mech powered down. Eric grinned. His first salvo and he had already downed a Mech. Radcliffe wasn't so impressed._

                "Hey, that was supposed to be my kill, boss!"

                "Uh, sorry about that, Striker Two. You can take out the remaining _Cougar if you wish. I'll back you up." Eric grinned deviously again._

                Just then his threat indicator sprang to life, alerting him to the squad of 4 pirate Vedette tanks which were rushing along the convoy route, determined to join the battle. Sporting Ultra AC 5s and machine guns, they could rip through the un-armoured haulers in seconds. Eric changed his mind.

                "Vedettes incoming! You'll have to take care of them. I'll go mop up the _Cougar. I've got the bigger Mech, anyway."_

                Radcliffe seemed to ignore the last barb and complied with Eric's order, running towards the new enemy contacts. Eric ran his Mech around the base of the hill to find a suitable spot to jump up to. The _Cougar wasn't relishing the idea of coming down to face him one-on-one so Eric had to do the necessary introductions himself. _

                A large laser flailed at him just as he completed the first jump on to a lower plateau. It struck his right foot, doing nothing much but drilling a big hole in the armour there. Eric looked up but still couldn't see the elusive _Cougar. He swore silently, triggering his jump jets to climb up to another plateau. Temperatures in his __Uziel was starting to really cook him._

                Radcliffe ran up a small hill overlooking the path the Vedettes were taking. They had picked him up on their scanners and weren't too eager to engage a 45-tonne Mech without much support, so they were staying a little further from him and keeping in formation. Radcliffe wouldn't be able to bring his ER medium pulse lasers and Streak SRMs, his primary weaponry, into play at such distances. But his ER large laser could tear holes into them at distances like that. 

                The lead Vedette opened fire on him just as he came up on the crest of the hill, but the autocannon rounds impacted harmlessly on the crest of the hill. He replied with a shot that severely scarred the tank's armour, forcing it to retreat behind its 3 friends. The trio of would-be defenders broke ranks when Radcliffe activated his jump jets, closing the distance between them very quickly. Radcliffe grinned devilishly. He was now going to be like a wolf set free in the middle of a flock. His medium lasers flashed, cutting the armour on another tank but still not claiming a kill. 'A few more steps and I'll be close enough to let loose my SRMs', Radcliffe consoled himself. He set down his Mech 300 metres from the tanks, this time firing both his ER large laser and medium pulse lasers to carve more armour from the closest Vedette, cutting into its tracks and wrecking its tread. The Vedette hit him back in the right torso with an autocannon round, shaking the Mech a little.

                The other tanks were in full retreat, leaving their stranded friend behind. Radcliffe started to run towards them, intending to smash through their rear armour and gut the vehicles. He fired his pulse lasers into the immobile Vedette, this time striking the gun port on the tank and probably flash-blinding the gunnery crew. He ran up to the tank and gave it a swift kick on the side, penetrating its armour and exposing its fragile innards to the hostile environment outside. Radcliffe didn't waste time gloating over his first kill. It had taken too long and he still had the other three Vedettes to hunt down. 

                Eric saw that the convoy was already approaching the hill, and was worried the _Cougar would take pot-shots at them. The Mech was already pretty badly scarred in several areas, thanks to his PPCs, but Eric was having so much trouble managing his heat curve that he couldn't make the kill without his reactor going critical. On the __Cougar's part, the pilot was good at evading his shots, though his or her gunnery was hopeless without the lock-on efficiency of his LRMs. Eric's __Uziel still had more than 9 tonnes of armour while the __Cougar packed less than half of that. If only Eric could score a hit on its jump jets, he could end the fight faster. He slammed a fist on his arm rests. He was stuck on a ledge just 7 metres beneath the cliff, unable to risk jumping that high and letting the __Cougar hit him at his or her own will. _

                He should check on Radcliffe's status, but assumed he could do okay without supervision. He triggered another round of SRMs when the _Cougar peeked over the rim, but only one missile hit as the Mech quickly ducked behind cover. Eric's anger was starting to boil over. _

                "Damn it! Here I come, you yellow-livered scum!"

                He activated his jump jets and swiftly came up on a plasma flare. The _Cougar had been waiting for just this moment._

                Just as Eric's Mech started to come over the rim, the _Cougar swiftly ran towards him. Eric hastily fired off his IS PPC and his SRMs, but he fired on thin air. The Mech came so fast that Eric only understood its intent too late._

                The enemy pilot triggered the _Cougar's__ jump jets to propel the Mech at him, while triggering an alpha strike just seconds before their Mechs collided. The lasers burned and melted armour from the arms and torso of the __Uziel, and the unarmed LRMs did not much but pit the __Uziel's armour. But the combined impacts all threw Eric's Mech off balance. Then the __Cougar smashed into Eric's centre torso.__ Already flying in the air, Eric had no way to hold his Mech steady. _

                Eric screamed, "Son of a b****!!" The two Mechs tumbled to the ground, 20 metres below. The split second it took for the Mechs to fall seem to last an eternity for Eric.

A/N : Sorry for the delay in posting this update. I had finished the top part of this a while back but didn't find the time to complete and upload it. As per some requests, I'll be deviating a little more from the original Black Knight story. Just a little more. Frankly I'm a bit lazy to change much of the story, but then without any changes then I myself would be too bored to write it out. As always, please do correct me if I made any mistakes. 


	6. Base Defense

_Black Knight Legion Dropship Black Falcon_

_Corvatti Mining Colony HB-3_

_15th September 3063_

__

_Isabel heard Eric's scream over the radio. She immediately activated her comm., asking for Eric's status._

"Eric?! Hello? We're approaching the cliff now, do you read me?"

There was no response, and her sensors didn't report any contacts on the cliff. Anxious for her lance leader, she decided to forge ahead and back him up. Just then her comm. came alive with the convoy leader's voice. He had anticipated her to make such a move.

"Striker Three, don't leave us alone here. We're pretty much unarmed."

Isabel held back a curse. "I can't leave Eric out there!"

"But we've got priority, remember? Your lance leader can take care of himself well enough. Hold your position."

Isabel stared at her transmitter incredulously. The man was being unreasonable. Then another voice came in, that of Mandrill's.

"Striker Three, I understand that Striker One is in trouble. But we can't leave the convoy alone and unarmed. Maintain present route and increase sensor range. I'm recalling Flanker lance to give aid. Just hold on. Don't worry, Isabel ….. Eric will be all right."

Isabel couldn't believe it. Even Mandrill was telling her to stand down. She clenched her control stick tighter, ready to bark back a vitriolic curse and go help Eric anyway. 

She didn't expect another problem to appear.

"Isabel! Need ….. help here …… attacked by ……" 

That came in on Radcliffe's frequency! She switched to his frequency and tried to radio him. He seemed to be a little too far out of radio range, because she couldn't get a reply from him. But he was definitely in danger. 'Damnation and hellfire, I'm coming for you boys!', Isabel thought. She turned her Mech up to maximum speed and closed the distance between her and Radcliffe's last position. The convoy was still rolling away in another direction. 

"Mandrill, this is Striker Three responding to distress call from Striker Two. Repeat, I'm responding to Striker Two's distress call."

This time Mandrill couldn't stop her. Isabel turned off her radio to avoid hearing any responses. She gritted her teeth and just hoped that she wouldn't be too late, otherwise it wouldn't be worth the court martial she could face after this mission.

Radcliffe was sweating profusely. It wasn't just the prolonged use of his lasers, but the loss of a heat sink to enemy fire was also creating heat problems for him. So far he didn't have any major armour breaches, but it wouldn't be long in coming, unless someone could come and take some heat off him.

He had made a mistake. The Vedettes weren't really running away, they were actually leading him into a small trap. A _Shadowcat had been hiding behind a hill, in low power mode. Just as Radcliffe ran past the hill, it powered up and suddenly attacked his rear armour with an alpha strike. Radcliffe wasn't ready at all for a sudden threat._

Fortunately, the strike didn't all strike home, giving Radcliffe a new lease on life. But the SRMs had almost cored through his rear armour, and the large laser burned away a heat sink. Then the Vedettes turned around and started to harass his front armour. Radcliffe swiftly activated his jump jets and managed to pull out of the precarious position he was placed in. Currently he was running away from the enemy, but it would be impossible to outrun a virtually identical Mech. He could not run towards the base, as that path was blocked by the Vedettes. Already Radcliffe had done several rear-guard actions. He finally managed to get a call through to Isabel, but he didn't get a response. He wiped his brow. How did he ever get into such situations?

The Vedettes were pretty far from his position now, the only threat being the blasted _Shadowcat that continued to try and hit his rear armour. Radcliffe spied a tall hill near his position, and ran towards it. At the least the temporary shelter would give his heat a chance to recover. Another large laser shot burned the grey ground in front of him, but Radcliffe was unfazed as he ran on towards the hill. The enemy Mech activated its jump jets and tried to catch up with Radcliffe. _

Radcliffe made it behind the mound, slowing down to keep him hidden temporarily. He checked his sensors. The Vedettes were off his sensors now, probably picking their way to the convoy now. He hoped Isabel was up to the challenge, but then those tracked vehicles weren't much of a trouble to a Mech. For a moment he thought he saw another contact on his south, but it disappeared before he could be sure. If there was another pirate out there, he was severely outnumbered.

Suddenly a threat alarm sounded. The _Shadowcat was running over the hill, intent on ending the struggle there and then. Radcliffe, weary of running, decided that enough was enough. He placed his feet firmly on the ground, and aimed up the hill. When the Mech came over the top, he triggered almost everything, except his medium lasers. The SRMs didn't lock on and flew erratically into the sky. His large lasers melted armour on the left torso of the Mech, but not scoring deep enough. He wished he had another bunch of weapons to take out the damned pirate._

That came with the sudden barrage of lasers and missiles that flew in from behind Radcliffe, smashing almost completely into the _Shadowcat._

Radcliffe checked his sensors. It was Flanker lance! Flanker One was armed with MRMs which while not having any lock-on systems, packed enough punch to shake even a medium Mech. As it was, the _Shadowcat was not prepared for the sudden threats, and promptly fell backwards and rolled off behind the hill, losing armour as it went. Radcliffe could imagine the headache the enemy pilot must be having, rolling around in his Mech. Flanker One activated his laser comm. unit to talk to Radcliffe._

"Heard you needed some help, Striker Two. Where's the rest of your lance?"

Radcliffe wiped his sweaty brow. "I'm not sure. I think I was being jammed by some of the pirates, I couldn't get through to them."

"Well, then it's time we joined the battle. Think we could mop up this pirate for ya?" 

Radcliffe cringed at the thought of losing his kill again, but then it could have easily been HIM being the kill just now, so he wasn't going to be stingy with his rescuers. 

"He's all yours, Flanker lance!"

A salvo of 5 medium lasers seared through the remaining armour on the Vedette, setting off ammunition stores and cart wheeling the vehicle into the light atmosphere. Another Vedette, the last one, tried to run, but Isabel just jumped her Mech right into its path, forcing the vehicle to stop. It discharged a few rounds of autocannon but Isabel was too fast for it. A swift kick to its tread ended its mobility, and a few lasers burned its turret to a molten, twisted piece of metal. Unarmed and alone, the Vedette called out its surrender to her.

"Pirate Vedette, where is the location of my other lancemates?" Isabel asked threateningly. Her lasers and machine gun pointed at the pitted and scarred armour on the tank. 

The pirate tank crew weren't willing to experience the fate of the other 3 crews. "We …. we don't know! Our _Shadowcat took off after another __Shadowcat, and we lost contact with both just moments ago."_

Isabel sighed. The convoy was nearing her position, and her lancemates were nowhere in sight. And she had no clue to their whereabouts. She felt like executing the tank crew for her frustration. She took careful aim at the tank. Suddenly the pirates continued.

"But we can tell you that …. that …. that we've got a lance of Mechs and armour coming in to give us fire support on our attack on the base! They were supposed to be here now, but they're too late now ….."

Isabel raised her eyebrows. Another lance of enemy Mechs could seriously tip the scales. Her short tussle with the Vedettes had pitted her armour in several places, not enough to warrant worry but enough to tell her that she wouldn't be able to stand up to two Mechs, let alone a whole lance. And armour. She would need help, soon. She turned on her radio, hoping Mandrill wasn't so pissed with her that she'd disregard Isabel's call.

"Mandrill, Striker Three. Prisoners report another lance of enemy Mechs and armour moving in on the depot. Request fire support, over."

Mandrill didn't take long in answering. "Striker Three, you should have been on the comm. I have recalled Flanker lance and they are now on their way to the depot, with Striker Two. Hold position and complete escort mission. Please don't disregard orders again, Isabel."

Isabel felt a slight flush on her cheeks at the rebuke, and radioed her compliance. Eric was still out there, but she couldn't find him without breaking more orders. She hoped grimly he'd hang on. 

"Bloody hell! Take this you bastard!"

Eric tried to plunge his the muzzle of his wrecked ER PPC into the cockpit of the _Cougar but missed by a metre, instead crushing armour on its centre torso. Still, it was enough to smash the light Mech to the ground. The pilot had been severely shaken by the impact and the __Cougar did not try to get up immediately after the physical assault. Eric carefully brought his leg up to stomp the other Mech's foot into the ground, crushing the already savaged limb and immobilising the Mech. Eric smiled harshly and pointed his remaining PPC at the cockpit. _

He had lost his ER PPC when he used that arm to bolster his fall earlier. Fortunately he had fallen on his side, therefore costing him only the right arm. It was even more fortunate that the _Cougar didn't fall on him, instead impacting almost directly face-down into the ground nearby and thoroughly damaging the Mech. Not to mention giving the pilot a severe concussion. It was amazing the pilot wasn't killed on impact. The fall had cost them both dearly in terms of armour, but still Eric had more armour. A few moments passed before he managed to lever himself up with his remaining one arm, while the other pilot was slowly struggling to his feet. Eric didn't give him a chance, quickly closing the distance between the two and then knocking the Mech down. _

He might have failed to vaporise the enemy pilot the first time, but now he would have his second chance. He was so close that he could vaguely see the pirate attempting to use his hands to shield himself. It would be a futile attempt, since the charged particles would burn through his hands as easily as a knife would cut through butter. 

"I surrender! I surrender! Cease fire! CEASE FIRE! Please!" the enemy pilot pleaded over the general frequency.

Eric was stunned. The voice of the pilot sounded so young. He toggled his comm. line to talk to the pirate.

"How old are you, son?"

"I …. I'm seventeen. Oh please don't kill me. Please don't!"

The pilot broke down in tears over the comm. line. Eric sighed. The kid was too young to die. He felt his hatred wane away, tempered by compassion. 

Another moment passed. Eric heaved another sigh and then lowered his PPC.

"Power down and wait for the salvage crews," Eric said gruffly.

The kid was still sobbing over the comm. line. Eric didn't wait for a reply, feeling slightly embarrassed now at scaring the kid. He checked his chronometer and found that almost 20 minutes had passed since he broke off from the convoy. They weren't even on his sensors anymore. He had better catch up to them quickly. 

"Mandrill, Striker Three reporting Nav Epsilon reached."

"Roger Isabel. Hold position while the convoy unloads. Striker Two and Flanker lance are coming into your area shortly."

"Roger that. Any news on Striker One?" Isabel watched as the haulers rolled into the facility. At the least they were in a safer area now. The depot had about 6 missile turrets covering its western edge, flanked by a number of laser turrets. 

"Negative, Striker Three. I'm sending out a patrol to locate him."

'Or bring back his body', Isabel thought bleakly.

Just then her threat sensors wailed a warning at her, but it wasn't the normal warning. "Air threat??" Isabel blurted out in surprise. Her sensors painted two planes flying in close formation towards the depot. Neither carried bombs or any ground attack weapons, which relaxed Isabel a little. Before they came into missile range, the planes flew away, apparently intimidated by the defences of the base.

"Looks like a recon wing. That's not a good sign ....Striker Lance, get ready for company," Mandrill radioed.

Isabel sighed. Looks like rest time was over. Before she could even reply, there was another urgent message from Mandrill. 

"Striker Lance, we detect six pirate Mechs approaching depot from the West. Flanker lance and near support is just one klick away. We're launching Stilletos to lend fire support. Phoenix Wing ETA 2 minutes. Hold depot and wait for reinforcements."

Isabel winced. 6 Mechs could really ruin her day. She keyed her radio. "Roger Mandrill. Flanker Lance, Radcliffe, looks like we're in for a real scrap." She could see the 4 friendly Mechs already approaching her southern flank. At the least she wouldn't have to face those Mechs alone. 

The battle was in full swing by the time Eric got to the depot. He counted 5 pirate Mechs, 3 _Chimeras and 2 __Hellspawns drawing fire from the combined power of Flanker lance and his lance. Already one __Hellspawn was lying in a smoking ruin on the ground, near one of the destroyed missile turrets. Most of the turrets were still functional, but unable to aim well without firing upon friendlies. However they could engage targets on the southeast flank of the depot, where 5 Vedettes had appeared and attempted to wreak havoc. The Stilletos had long ago left the area to refuel, but had managed to kill 3 of the Vedettes. The remaining Vedettes had pulled back under the intense fire of the missile turrets. So it was a pretty even match, although he could see that Radcliffe and Isabel were quite beat up._

Well, time for him to change the odds.

He announced his arrival with a PPC blast into the back of one of the _Hellspawns, striking the right torso. The charged particles ran blue streaks all over the Mech's torso, probably scrambling some of its circuitry as well. The Mech staggered forward under the shot, turning its torso to see the new aggressor. Eric grinned. His comm. links came alive with his allies' excited hollers. Isabel was the first to get through clearly._

"Eric! Sir! You're alive!"

"Damn it, sir, where have you been? We've been needing that extra edge to nail these pirates!"

"Striker One! Good to see you still up and running! Help us mop these guys up, will you?"

'I guess I got my work cut out for me now …' Eric thought, as he watched weapons fire from his side increase. Even though his Mech wasn't in good shape, a medium Mech could always turn the tide easily. The pirates were attempting to pull back, but Eric knew they wouldn't have much of a chance ….. not against the Legion.

_Black Knight Legion Dropship Black Falcon_

_Corvatti Mining Colony HB-3_

_16th September 3063_

"Okay Legionnaires, we've got the pirates on the run. Intel expects they're pulling back and getting ready to get off this rock with as much crystal as they can haul. The Black Legion needs to ensure they don't get away with enough crystal to finance any return trips. All forward lances are being deployed on long range recon routes to locate and destroy any dropships or other vehicles capable of hauling crystals into orbit. Forward leaders, run your points and call them in. Report any dropships sightings as priority traffic. Stay sharp. Dismissed." 

As Eric was about to leave the mission briefing room with his lancemates, Colonel Lawhorn's voice called over the PA system again. "Eric, please come to the front."

Isabel and Radcliffe gave him questioning looks, but carried on their way to the mess anyway.

Eric walked up to the stage at the front of the room, and saluted Colonel Lawhorn. The Colonel returned Eric's salute.

"Eric, we've just got a bunch of recruits from Harlech. All newbies, with only militia Battlemech training, but there's one with a pretty solid piloting instinct. Corporal Robert Olsen. Not too good at gunnery, though. Still, he can refine his skills being in a semi-light lance, not on the frontlines in an assault Mech. As a reward for a job well done a few days back, not only I'm assigning your lancemates new Mechs, I'm also giving your lance top priority for selection."

A fourth lancemate! At the least he would have an additional Mech as backup now. Not wanting to show too much enthusiasm, Eric just shrugged his shoulders.

"I'd trust your opinion sir. I'll take him." Inwardly, he was grinning.


	7. Pirate Hunt

_Black Knight Legion Dropship Black Falcon_

_Corvatti Mining Colony HB-3_

_17th September 3063_

Eric brought his Mech to a stop a kilometre before nav Alpha. He checked his rear camera and saw Radcliffe's _Uziel_, Isabel's _Shadowcat_ and Olsen's _Raven_ catch up with him. So far the Colonel had been right. Olsen did have a knack for piloting. The bobbing _Raven_ wasn't exactly very easy to pilot, but Olsen seemed at ease with it. For now. Eric wondered how he would fare in combat later. "He'd better not freeze up and force us to save him," he grumbled quietly. He activated his voice microphone and got on his lance's channel.

"Okay Striker Lance, we do this one right and our pirate-hunting days are over."

Radcliffe raised his PPCs in mock celebration. "Amen to that!"

Eric chuckled, and then continued. "Our new lancemate is Corporal Robert Olsen. Try to set a semi-respectable example for him."

Radcliffe cheekily countered, "Why sir! I'll have you know, I consider myself the very height of respectability!"

Isabel spoke to Robert. "Good to have you aboard, Olsen." Eric was about to compliment her on her positive greeting, when she added: "Try not to get anyone killed."

"I wasn't planning to!" Robert replied indignantly.

Eric smiled. Robert would fit just fine with them. Provided he didn't get killed on this mission. He turned up his throttle and gave his orders.

"Okay, clear the comm. and let's run the pattern. Olsen, you stick close to Radcliffe and double-up on targets with him. Isabel, you're with me."

"I'm honoured," Isabel replied. Eric wasn't sure if it was laced with sarcasm, but she moved up next to him anyway, and they were on their way.

Mandrill had ordered them on an extended patrol route, to check for the pirate's crystal shipments. A previous fly-by had detected an abandoned depot at the end of their patrol route. She told him not to expect any pirates there, since the depot had been abandoned long before the arrival of the pirates, but she felt that the place needed a check anyway.

While pounding to nav Alpha, Eric checked the ammunition feed to his new autocannon. The quartermaster could not replace Eric's lost ER PPC or even give him a new PPC, so Eric had left that left arm weapons pod empty. Instead he mounted an LBX10 scattershot autocannon in his left torso. He had to strip out 2 heat sinks to do so, but then with only one PPC, it wouldn't make a difference. He could even spare an extra tonne of ammo for the autocannon. He might have a little less firepower in terms of range, but now his Mech could be deadly at close range. He was raring to try out his new configuration.

Of course, that depended on whether there was anybody to shoot on this mission.

"Robert, scout ahead with your Beagle Active Probe (BAP) and sniff out any enemies."

"By myself?"

Eric groaned. He could bet Radcliffe was about to spout some sarcastic rhetoric, so he quickly spoke again.

"All right. Isabel, cover his rear. Radcliffe, you're with me now."

There was a chorus of ayes answering his orders. Robert's _Raven_, equipped with an active probe sensor which was able to pick up powered down or Mechs using ECM better than normal sensors, jogged ahead to nav Alpha. Isabel followed close behind, her Mech almost able to match the _Raven_'s speed. Radcliffe came up on Eric's right flank.

Radcliffe used laser comm. to talk to Eric personally. "Eric, are you sure Robert's any good in that _Raven_? We're not sure if he's good at reading his sensors at all. Heck, we aren't even sure if he can shoot either! Why did you bring him out on this mission?"

"Give the kid a try, Striker Two. He's going to have to get some field experience sooner or later. Anyway his dossier says that his sensory skills are one of the best among the recruits. Otherwise I'd not be bothered to bring deadweight on this mission."

Radcliffe sighed resignedly and kept quiet after that. It was interesting to hear Radcliffe express concern over anyone, with the way he tries to piss everyone off. It was most likely the developing camaraderie among his lance and the fact that Robert Olsen was more like a younger brother to all of them. Eric smiled.

His smile didn't last.

"Str … Striker One! I'm picking up some soft reactor signatures below the ridge near nav Alpha. Could be armour assets. Requesting backup," Robert suddenly announced.

Eric jolted upright in his seat. He barked an order to Robert and Isabel to hold position near Alpha, while Radcliffe and him caught up with them.

Then Robert warned him that he had been hit with an active sensor ping, signs that there could be enemy Mechs with BAP around the area. Eric started to feel nervous. He hoped that this mission wouldn't be a trial by fire for Robert, but it looked like it would be the other way around now.

He caught up with his two lancemates. Radcliffe and Robert went to the left flank, while Eric and Isabel went around to the right flank in order to try and trap the armour assets in the gulley. It was likely that the armour units had been warned of the threat by the nearby Mechs, and were still lying low in ambush. But Eric decided that a full lance of Mechs could take on the tanks or whatever tracked vehicles anytime. As he neared the edge of the gulley, he picked up the powering up of 5 enemy tanks: Bulldogs only. He was expecting PPC-armed Shreks or Demolishers with enough short-range punch to ravage them, and so was surprised at the appearance of such a lousy opponent.

Then it struck him. They were bait!

"Sir! Enemy Mechs on our rear! 3 lights and one medium Mech! 800 metres and closing fast!"

Robert was getting pretty good at warning Eric of impending threats, though Eric wished Robert was wrong about his contacts for once. The Mechs were armed with ECM, since he couldn't see them on his sensors.

"Strikers Two and Three, pull back to our position! Now! Striker One, advance with me and destroy the Bulldogs! Move it!"

Radcliffe brought his Mech up to speed, along with Eric. The tanks were advancing on their position, ignoring the fact that Isabel and Robert were coming up on their backs. Eric had to give them credit for having the balls to face 2 medium Mechs head on. Before they could open fire, Radcliffe let loose his PPCs into the lead tank, which promptly erupted spectacularly into flames for a while before the flames died out due to lack of oxygen. Not to be left behind, Eric fired his PPC into the tank behind it. It didn't score through the armour, but blew its tracks off and immobilised it.

As fast as the drive had started, it died out. The remaining tanks started to flee, but Eric fired his LB10X and his SRMs on another tank, this time penetrating its armour and exposing its crew to the harmful environment outside. Isabel managed to catch one tank with her large laser, medium lasers and Streak SRMs, also penetrating the armour and killing the crew. Robert tried to hit a tank, but missed wide with his small lasers and even his pulse lasers. The two tanks scrambled by Isabel and Robert for the relative safety of their approaching comrades. Eric toggled his comm.

"Let them go. Form up on the ridge, let's get out of this gulley."

Eric checked his sensors and could now detect the opposing Mech lance. Two _Raven_s, a _Cougar_ and a …. _Bushwhacker_. The last Mech, a 55-tonner, usually carried an AC10 and LRMs as its primary weaponry. Coupled with the _Cougar_'s LRMs, the two Mechs could smash their armours all from a distance. Even worse, the _Raven_s had NARC, a beacon which once implanted by a missile on to a target, would attract friendly missiles to the target, even those without lock. Currently the enemy lance was still behind a hill, but they would be over the hill in another minute or so. The _Raven_s were wise, pacing themselves to match the speed of their lancemates first. Eric quickly gave orders.

"Seek cover, Striker lance. Those LRMs will be incoming soon, and watch those Ravens. Don't get hit by a NARC or you're in trouble. Olsen, try to hit the _Bushwhacker _with a NARC and take it out. Radcliffe, attract his attention and watch Olsen's back. Isabel, engage that _Cougar_ while I take on the _Raven_s. Go!"

Everyone took their positions, and Eric radioed to Mandrill about their engagement.

"Roger Striker One. Engage but watch for more enemy forces. We believe you've hit the hornet's nest."

Eric watched nervously as the _Bushwhacker_ and the _Cougar_ set up their positions on a ridge north of them, probably waiting to shower their targets with LRMs. The _Raven_s were moving in on Radcliffe and Robert, who were approaching the _Bushwhacker_ from the southwest. Eric quickly set his throttle to maximum and closed the distance to the _Raven_s, going over a series of depressions and in the process attracting the attention of the Mechs on the ridge. He was trying to cover Isabel's approach, who was moving in on the _Cougar_ as quietly as possible from its southeast flank.

He zoomed in on a _Raven_ as he heard the warning of a missile lock.

"Crap …. it's started."

He managed to fire his PPC, grazing the armour on the _Raven_'s left torso just before he saw the _Cougar _let loose with its full complement of 20 missiles at him. He watched the missiles fly in on his right flank.

"Almost …. almost ……" he mumbled to himself.

"Striker One, taking fire, request support!" Robert was shouting, unaware of his lance leader's own problems.

"I'm on your back, just keep moving" Radcliffe retorted.

Eric didn't have time to listen carefully. When the LRMs were almost 20 metres from him, he mashed his jump jet controls and took off into the air. The manoeuvre raised the heat levels in his cockpit by several degrees, but it managed to avoid a few LRMs. Nevertheless, almost 10 missiles retained their lock and hammered his legs, enough to damage his knee actuators but fortunately not destroy them.

He landed gingerly, almost stumbling due to the trouncing he took in the air. His jump had managed to land him in a depression, shielding him from the missile boat Mechs on the ridge. He quickly brought his Mech up to speed and chased down the _Raven_s, who were delaying Radcliffe and Robert in their objective. He didn't want Isabel to take on those two other Mechs by herself.

He found the four Mechs tangling near the base of the hill where the _Bushwhacker _and _Cougar _held their ground. Radcliffe was protecting Robert's back as he moved backwards, taking on the two Mechs while Robert slowly moved upwards to engage the _Bushwhacker_. Radcliffe had been good; already one of the _Raven_s was smoking from a penetrating hit on its right torso, and the LRMs there were all but destroyed. However, Radcliffe's _Uziel_ wasn't in a pristine state either.

"Radcliffe! Roberts! Go on to engage the _Bushwhacker_! Support Isabel, now!"

Radcliffe seemed reluctant to leave his kills behind, but complied anyway. A _Raven_ tried to pock Radcliffe's rear armour with an alpha strike, but failed to hit anything at all as he deftly triggered his jump jets and sailed away from them.

He carefully laid his reticule over the _Raven_ which had missed just now, then fired his own alpha strike. The salvo burned and blasted away enough armour on its left torso, almost knocking the Mech over. As it was, the pilot had to place a foot forward to balance himself. His compatriot turned around to bring the _Raven_'s weapons to bear on him. Eric grinned.

"All right boys, it's my turn to play," Eric said, much to himself.

Isabel launched a hasty salvo from her lasers, not really hitting anything but able to keep her antagonists occupied. The _Bushwhacker_ had already cratered her centre torso with a few rounds from its AC10, and by some stroke of luck (for them) the _Cougar_ had struck the same spot with its ER lasers as well. If either Mech had another solid strike with its full complement of weapons, she could lose her centre torso completely. Not to mention her life.

"Striker Two, where the hell are you? Radcliffe!"

Radcliffe's response wasn't long in coming, though slightly distorted by the jamming action of the _Raven_s. "Don't worry, Three. We're coming up on their rear, just below the hill. Keep them occupied, Isabel. Olsen, tag that bloody _Bushwhacker _with a NARC."

"Roger Radcli …. err … sir."

In his cockpit, Radcliffe grinned at the formality. "Olsen, it's okay to call me Radcliffe. I'm not the Lieutenant ….. well, not yet."

"ARE YOU BOYS DONE CHIT-CHATTING YET?" Isabel's voice boomed on their ears.

"Uhh …. got it Isabel. Attacking!"

Radcliffe cringed as he saw Robert's NARC round miss and fly into the sky. At the least Robert knew to shut the transmitter off immediately upon missing his target, but it looked like Radcliffe's SRMs would have to be manually aimed for a while. He squeezed his jump jets, catapulting himself into the sky, hoping to find himself facing the rear armours of the two Mechs. He found the _Bushwhacker _approaching Isabel's position, but the _Cougar _was facing him, tracking him as he flew above it. Uh oh.

The alarms shrieked a missile lock, confirming Radcliffe's fears. Radcliffe grimaced as LRMs erupted from the _Cougar_'s torsos. What a stupid mistake to make.

Robert just watched, mouth agape, as Radcliffe's _Uziel _was bathed in fire and explosions. He hadn't seen the effects of LRMs on a Mech so far, only in the simulations and holo-vids. The Mech was almost completely obscured by smoke, and then it went out of his view.

Isabel's concerned voice came on the radio. "Radcliffe! Are you all right?! Olsen, support Striker Two NOW!"

Robert shook himself out of his daze and pushed his Mech forward into the battle. Radcliffe didn't respond, but Robert's radar still picked up a live reactor reading. Either Radcliffe's radio had been blasted apart or he was knocked out. Whichever way, Radcliffe would be needing help. And the best person to help would now be him. He hoped the Lieutenant would come and help him soon.

Eric jump jetted over a _Raven_, landing behind it and finding himself facing its paper-thin rear armour. The Mech struggled to turn around but Eric was too fast for it. "Gotcha now!"

He fired his PPC and his autocannon at once. The autocannon just sanded away the remaining protection on the Mech's rear, not enough to cause critical damage, but enough for the PPC to carve a hole the size of a basketball in the armour. The pilot, realising his precarious situation, quickly attempted to flee. Lacking jump jets, he tried to run away, hoping to put as much distance as possible between him and Eric. His compatriot tried to attract Eric's attention by launching LRMs on him, but Eric knew better than to let his quarry run away. His SRMs didn't have a secure lock thanks to the rocking the missile hits caused, but he fired them anyway. He was rewarded amply by seeing at the least two missiles fly into the cavity he had created. The _Raven_ keeled over, seemingly drunken, and crashed into the ground head-first.

Before Eric could crow over his kill, a bright light suddenly blinded him. He screamed in pain, covering his eyes. The _Raven_ had flash-blinded him! His Mech stumbled without his controls. Eric managed to regain his composure quickly, but spots still swam before his eyes. He heard the warning of missile lock, and instinctively triggered his jump jets. However, without knowing which way the missiles were coming from, it was a futile gesture. As he took off, LRMs crashed into his right leg, this time smashing his leg actuators into ruin and rendering that limb useless. Gritting his teeth, Eric knew his landing would be really rough. He braced for impact.


	8. End of Campaign One

_Black Knight Legion Dropship Black Falcon_

_Corvatti Mining Colony HB-3_

_17th September 3063_

                More autocannon fire! Isabel triggered her jump jets and flew backward behind a rocky outcropping, barely avoiding another blast of AC10. She was getting fed up of playing hide-and-seek with the _Bushwhacker. She wasn't meant to take it on, anyway, but with Radcliffe knocked out and Olsen struggling to even hit the _Cougar_, she had to draw its attention. Several times already she almost got hit with a full blast of LRMs and autocannon shells, but her jump jets brought her out of almost every encounter safely. But she couldn't hide forever. Already her damage schematic warned her of internal damage on her right arm, no thanks to a lucky salvo by the damned _Bushwhacker_. One of her medium lasers had been wrecked, but at the least there wasn't any other component damaged. If Isabel made a mistake and gave the __Bushwhacker a chance to strike her centre torso again, it would be all over._

                She grumbled, "Where's that damned Eric when you need him?"

                "Where is everyone??"

                Robert wasn't holding up very well against the heavier _Cougar_. The intense pressure was making him make mistakes with his piloting, and now his entire right torso armour and right arm were pretty much worn away. And Robert just couldn't aim well. Not one of his NARC rounds hit, so he dared not use his LRMs. Robert tried to raise Radcliffe on the radio several times, begging for a miracle to save him. Radcliffe's _Uziel _was still lying prone on the ground, at the bottom of the hill. Robert didn't know if the fall had killed Radcliffe or not. 

                Eric managed to get a hand beneath his Mech, slowly pushing the 50-tonne hulk up. It was bad enough that his leg had been wrecked, but now his arm was done for too. Fortunately there weren't any critical components mounted on the arm. 

                The _Raven_ had left him alone to tend to its fallen lancemate just 10 metres away. Eric took the chance to quickly get up.

                The _Raven_ saw him rise to his feet, and quickly tagged him with a NARC round. Eric was astounded by the lightning reflexes of the pilot. Man he was fast!

                Eric didn't bother to fire his jump jets when the pilot fired its LRMs at him. With a solid lock and NARC emitter, it would be hard to avoid the missiles, not to mention on a 'broken' leg and a semi-blinded pilot. He crouched over, trying to present the smallest target profile to the missiles, and weathered the rounds. One round impacted near his cockpit, shaking him around but fortunately not cracking the cockpit yet. Eric swore. He had better bring down the pilot quick, before he lost his armour advantage over the other Mech!

                He fired his SRMs, only one missile  hitting but impacting directly on the ferro-glass composite of the _Raven_'s cockpit. The _Raven _staggered backward. Eric grinned.

                "Payback for what you did to me, chum!"

                The enemy pilot was sufficiently rattled that his follow-up laser shots all missed. Eric replied with his autocannon, sanding further protection from the _Raven_'s torso and even a bit from the cockpit again. Anticipating a blistering counter-fire with LRMs, Eric swiftly fired his jump jets to the right.

                Not a moment too soon, since the pilot did exactly just as Eric expected. Missiles flew without a definite lock, almost all missing Eric completely. Only two missiles hit, drawn in by the NARC emitter. Eric heard his SRMs cycle free, and fired another round at the almost stationary target. The enemy pilot must be so concussed that he couldn't bring his Mech to move. The SRMs impacted on its right torso, further banging the Mech around. The Mech seemed to crouch down, trying to maintain its balance.

                Eric calmly placed his reticule over the _Raven's__ cockpit. He waited for his autocannon and SRMs to cycle free and then squeezed the trigger. _

                He saw the autocannon shells crack open the cockpit before his SRMs smashed through the remainder of the cockpit and into the fragile human tissue inside. Eric shook his head at the loss of another pilot, but he didn't have time to mourn the enemy's death. His lancemates needed him!

                Isabel decided enough was enough. Time to face him down! She checked her sensors and found the _Bushwhacker_ about to round the corner which shielded her from him. They had been running around the hill for several rounds now, each time the _Bushwhacker managing to sand more of her armour away with each opportunity. Damn it, it was like she was a damned dog, getting chased around the block! _

                This time, she would bite back. 

                She trained her reticule on the corner, and fired an alpha strike just as the Mech's elongated bullet-like torso peeked around the corner. The enemy pilot must have not been expecting the shot, for it stumbled a little. Isabel laughed harshly when she imagined the look of surprise on the other pilot's face. 

                "Didn't expect the little bitch to bite back, right?!"

                She fired her jump jets to bring her closer to the Mech, intent on engaging the Mech face-to-face. The enemy pilot must have been expecting her to turn and run away, and fired his lasers and autocannon at the space Isabel's _Shadowcat _had vacated. Isabel gave a smirk of satisfaction. She proceeded to rake the enemy Mech with her machine gun, even while flying. Her pulse lasers cycled free and also splashed some armour away from the torso of the Mech. 

                The _Bushwhacker_ managed a pathetic reply with its medium pulse lasers, but failed to penetrate her weakened centre torso. Landing barely 5 metres from the Mech, she fired her Streak SRMs and continued to hammer the Mech with her machine guns and pulse laser, constantly hitting the centre torso. The temperature in her cockpit started to rise, but Isabel barely noticed it.

                "Die, damn you, die!"

                Suddenly the _Bushwhacker_ fired its LRMs. The enemy pilot's aim was true, but the missiles did nothing much but dent her armour. One warhead even knocked her cockpit and fell off to the ground below. Apparently, the range was too short for the missiles to arm themselves. The _Bushwhacker _pilot must have panicked and fired the wrong weapon. Furthermore Isabel's _Shadowcat was too close for its autocannon to fire. Isabel grinned. _

                "Am I too close for comfort, senor? Give me a kiss!"

                She heard her ER large laser cycle free, and this time burned the armour off the _Bushwhacker_'s centre torso with a vengeance. She quickly followed up with her lasers and machine guns, chipping and burning off the last of the armour on the torso. By luck; or as Isabel would call it later, "by supreme skill", all her shots actually hit the centre torso alone. The enemy pilot must have been really shaken by the ferocity of Isabel's fire, and pulled back. Isabel didn't give it much chance. She launched her SRMs and watched the missiles glide into the chest cavity, and into the internals of the Mech.

                The missiles wreaked havoc in the internals of the Mech, damaging the reactor shielding. For a moment there Isabel thought the Mech would go critical right in front of her, however, the other pilot managed to engage the safeties on his reactor in time. Isabel jubilantly pumped her fists in triumph, only then noticing all the sweat on her face and body. She groaned, wiping the sweat off her brow.

                'Damn, now I really need a bath!' she thought.

                She went back to the Robert's last position and found him safe and sound, if not shaken. Eric had came in just in time to take out the _Cougar _from behind, albeit after taking some critical damage from the Mech. They found Radcliffe in a dizzy state, but quite all right except for a damaged comm. unit and a sprained arm. 

                Eric radioed Mandrill. "Mandrill, Striker One. We've got pretty badly banged up by the enemy lance. Requesting further support on mission op, over."

                "Roger Striker One. Alpha lance is en route, ETA 10 minutes."

                That raised an eyebrow. The Colonel was coming to support them? As if on cue, the Colonel's voice busted in on Mandrill's.

                "Eric, proceed with mission op. If you've really found the main depot, they could well be evacuating their supplies now!"

                Eric wondered if his lance could take on more enemies, but he knew the Colonel was right. It was either now or never.

                "Affirmative, sir! Striker Lance, let's move out!"

                Eric limped all the way to the nav point, escorted by his two senior lancemates, while Robert scouted ahead by himself. He was a still little shaken but after surviving his first battle, he seemed none the worse for wear. He soon radioed in some sensor contacts.

                "Good news, Striker One. No Mech contacts. Just a few static emplacements – SRM turrets, and I see a lance of Vedettes on the far end. I think there's a dropship on the tarmac too, but weird, no weapons on board. Its in a power-up cycle but there are no weapons on the dropship, as if the pirates got this ship for discounted prices! This will be an easy kill ….. request permission to engage!"

                "Negative, Striker Four. Hold your position. There could be powered down Mechs anywhere in the whole depot. Let me contact Mandrill for air support."

                "Oh well …."

                Eric shook his head, wondering how Robert got so much nerve all the sudden. He switched to the command frequency.

                "Mandrill, this is Striker One. Flash traffic. Have located pirate depot. Contact with Vedettes, one Hrothgar dropship and about a dozen orbital cargo launchers. Please advise."

                "Roger, Striker One. Engage and destroy enemy forces. Don't let the cargo pods get free or we'll be hunting these lousy bandits for months."

                "Requesting air support as well, Mandrill. We are in sore – "

                Mandrill's voice cut in. "Striker One, we detect pod launch from depot! Take it out before it escapes into orbit. Launching fighters to give extra cover. Phoenix Wing ETA 4 minutes."

                Well, here comes their aerofighter support. Eric contemplated waiting for the fighters to arrive. No point in risking themselves. He could see the ignition of some of the pods from his location. 

                Just then the Colonel cut in. "In 4 minutes they will be well out of range. Striker Lance engage those damned pods!"

                Eric sighed. He'd have to risk their lives whether he liked it or not. "Yes sir, we're on it!"

                His lancemates moved in ahead of Eric without needing his orders. Robert waited for Radcliffe and Isabel to catch up with him before they entered the depot and started firing wildly at the launching pods. The SRM turrets went dead when one well-placed salvo from Radcliffe's PPCs struck their turret control vehicle. The tanks were intimidated by the show of firepower and pulled away from the battle, running off into the crystal desert. 

                Meanwhile, Eric managed to core the engines of one pod with his single PPC, while Isabel had claimed a pod by herself too, before it even took off. Robert amazingly managed to tag one flying pod with NARC and blasted it to bits with his LRMs. When Radcliffe joined in, the lance managed to take out about 10 pods, allowing only 4 to escape into the orbit. Even so, the pods could still be intercepted by Phoenix Wing. Eric felt elated. Not a single loss on his side! And it wasn't a trap as he was worried about earlier. The lance of pirate Mechs they faced earlier must have been the primary line of defence for the depot. 

                Before Eric could convey his congratulations to his team, another communiqué came in from Mandrill, and it was no congratulatory message.

                "Striker Lance, be advised. A Talon class dropship is approaching your position from low orbit. It is not responding to our hails."

                Eric's eyes bulged in horror and disbelief. That dropship would easily blow them all to pieces, in their current condition.

                 "Striker One, this is Black Six. Alpha lance is two klicks out from Nav Alpha. Fall back by best available route and rendezvous at Alpha!"

                Without wasting any time, Eric shouted his orders to his lancemates. "You heard the Colonel! Move to nav Alpha! Now!"

                "Sir ….. what about you? Your leg is bust."

                Eric felt a choke in his throat and swallowed it down. "Never mind me, Striker Three. Get out of here! It's a direct order! I'll hold off the Talon!"

                Suddenly Robert barged in on the conversation. "The Hrothgar is taking off! Fully loaded with crystals and it's pulling full thrust to get out of here!"

                Eric felt so much despair. Not only was his lance about to be murdered in cold blood, they were going to fail their mission. He fired his PPC at the pirate dropship, but his shot did nothing much except scar a little of its armour.

                Without warning, a savage salvo of Gauss rifle slugs and PPCs slagged the Hrothgar's centreline armour, coring into its innards. Missiles poured into the doomed dropship and wrapped the spherical dropship in fire. Before anyone could even utter anything, there was a huge explosion that almost blinded Eric and knocked his Mech over. Eric had to shake his head to clear the cobwebs.

                "What the hell ….."

                "Was that from the Talon?"

                Eric didn't manage to reply to his lancemates before a voice with a heavy accent called out gleefully over the general frequencies. 

                "Attention Black Knight Legion mercenaries! Not like you to let the big one get away."

                Eric checked his transmitter. The transmission came from the Talon! It was now within his visual range, coming in to land on the depot barely 10 metres from Eric's prone Mech. The amount of weaponry on the trapezoidal dropship was staggering. Fortunately, the weapons were not pointed at his lance and were powered down to avoid hostilities. Only then he noticed that the Colonel's lance had just arrived on the scene. Eric heaved a sigh of relief.

                Colonel Lawhorn challenged the unknown speaker, stepping his _Black Knight_ forward as if presenting himself. "This is Black Knight Legion command. Identify yourself."

                "This is Major Clarissa Dupree of the Lyran Alliance. We're here to brief the Legion on its next assignment."

                There was a smattering of confusion on the Legion's channels. The Colonel ignored it all and replied, "I do not recall signing any contract to support such a claim."

                "We'll settle terms en-route. We're advancing you this pair of Mechs as a gesture of goodwill."

                The dropship had landed and was opening its bay doors. Eric got his Mech up and managed a good look into the Mech bay. He was awestruck at the two pristine Mechs he saw standing in the bay. 

                Eric gaped at a Mech he'd seen only in the holovids chronicling Task Force Serpent's assault on the home planet of Clan Smoke Jaguar (Huntress). He couldn't keep the awe out of his voice. "Looks like a Clan Ryoken."

Isabel stepped up next to him and used her large laser to point at the other Mech. She was no less lavish in her awe. "Is that a Sunder? Never seen one before! Sure is big!"

                After a few moments, the Colonel replied to Dupree, "Affirmative, Major Dupree. Mandrill, better clean up Tac Comm. Looks like we're entertaining new clients. Black Six out."

                Another mission well done.

A/N: Sorry for the hyper-extended battle scenes and pretty windy story this time. I don't think I can update my Black Knight fan fic for another few weeks. Exams around the corner, and I've got to buck up! Hope to get more reviews though. Kind of disappointing. What happened to the many reviewers on this site? Where's Strikepenguin, for example?? They seem to have been gone for a long time. Sigh. BTW, thanks to Marwynn for your review and encouragement. I'll try to incorporate non-Black Knight Mechs into the fic! I tried restricting it to the game Mechs only because it'd be easier to picture them and to know which critical are the weapons are located (right torso, left arm, etc). I do feel damned awkward writing about pirates piloting Clan Mechs (even a _Timber Wolf_!!) but I was following the story. Now that the story progresses to Kentares IV, Clan Mechs wouldn't be too weird now.


	9. Prologue to Campaign Two: Doubts

_Black Knight Legion Headquarters_

_Corvatti Mining Colony HB-3_

_18th September 3063_

The Colonel's meeting with Major Dupree was anti-climatic compared to her entrance a few days back. She brought her _Mad Cat MKII _into the Legion headquarters along with her command lance; all assault Mechs. Eric and his lancemates watched from a distance as an _Atlas, __Sunder and a _Zeus_ marched in just behind their lance leader. Their assigned Black Legion escorts, a __Centurion and two __Trebuchets, appeared tiny by the size of the other Mechs. The walls seemed to shudder with each footfall, even though they were standing near their barracks, almost a hundred metres away from the Mechs. Eric couldn't help but feel awed by the display of might, though for some reason he detested the arrogant swagger of those Mechs. _

"Waltzing in like a bunch of overgrown hippopotamuses," commented Radcliffe dryly. Apparently, he too disliked the unnecessary show of might. On his right, Robert continued to gape at the Mechs silently. 

Isabel was less bothered by the scene. She turned away and shrugged.

"Big deal. After all the action two days back, we might be piloting those kind of Mechs soon. Right, Eric?"

Eric looked away and shook his head at Isabel. "Sorry to burst your bubble, baby, but I doubt it. Colonel Lawhorn doesn't just toss you pay hikes and lance upgrades for each good mission you do, like some Santa Claus. But we'll probably get better jobs than just chasing down half-baked pirates."

Radcliffe chuckled. "Yeah, that'll be a change."

Isabel frowned at Eric's use of the word "baby" but didn't make any further comment. She stuck her hands into her pockets and walked off to her barracks. Eric turned to look at his remaining lancemates and grinned.

"Well, show time's over. Who's up for a game of poker at the mess?"

_Black Knight Legion Headquarters_

_Corvatti Mining Colony HB-3_

_20th September 3063_

The Colonel had briefed the Legionnaires about the contract the Lyrans had offered the day before. It was a risky proposition, but one that could really boost the Legion's coffers if successfully carried out. 

Just a few years back, Steiner forces attacked and 'pacified' the world of Kentares IV, which was then ruled by Duke Eric Dresari, one of the more vocal supporters of Victor Davion who opposed Katrina Steiner's usurpation of the Federated Suns throne. The Kentares defenders were surprised to find themselves under attack by the supposedly allied Fifth Donegals, and were swiftly and brutally slaughtered. The Kentares palace was swiftly overrun in the initial attacks. Duke Eric and almost his whole family were executed and a Steiner pawn, William Dresari, was elected to be the new Duke. However, forces loyal to the late Duke Eric banded together under the leadership of two surviving Dresaris and managed to defeat the Steiner forces on Kentares IV after months of gruelling combat. Recently it was rumoured that the planet had broken out in civil war again, but there had been conflicting reports from the planet, Davion and Steiner authorities.

Regardless, Archon Katrina Steiner was not pleased with the outcome of the battle on Kentares IV and wished to re-occupy the planet with loyalist troops. She was running low on front-line troops to send to Kentares IV; hence she decided to take up the option of hiring mercenaries to 'pacify' the planet once more. Quite a number of top-notch mercenary units have already very explicitly stated their abhorrence to either take part in the Fed Comm civil war or fight under the Steiner banner, hence forcing Katrina to rely on other alternative mercs. The Black Legion mercenaries were not affiliated to either side, but Colonel Lawhorn knew it was too good a chance to pass up. Siding with Steiner could be dangerous, considering the fact that the Lyran Commonwealth had attacked the Grey Death Legion on Glengarry previously. But that was quite some time ago, and the Colonel knew he couldn't just pass up such a lucrative contract for minor doubts like that. He had accepted the contract and would be giving out unit assignments soon, he told them.

Eric sat lazily on a couch, watching a holo-vid of the latest in news about the Fed Comm civil war when Radcliffe walked in, Olsen in tow. The two seemed to have bonded well since their last mission. Probably something about brotherhood under fire, Eric mused.

Radcliffe opened his mouth to speak first.

"Eric, sir, we just heard from Mandrill that you're wanted at the Colonel's office. On the double."

"Probably got a big pay bonus for our last mission, eh, sir?"

Eric groaned as he slowly got up from his couch. He stretched his stiff muscles and yawned.

"No, Robert, I don't think so. But we'll see. With some extra cash to spend, I might give you guys a chance to beat me in poker after all."

Radcliffe grinned. "Shucks, sir, didn't know you were so philanthropically inclined." 

The Colonel was waiting outside his office, leaning against the wall and smoking a cigarette. His secretary was not around, Eric noticed. Queer. When the Colonel noticed him, he smiled and beckoned Eric to enter his office. Eric followed him into the room, and took a seat at the Colonel's request. He even offered Eric coffee.

"No, but thanks anyway sir. Trying to cut down on caffeine," Eric lied. Truth was, he was feeling a little nervous about the situation now, and caffeine would just send his nerves into overdrive. "Could you cut to the chase and tell me what's going on around here, Colonel?"

Colonel Lawhorn smiled lightly and sat on his desk, staring down at Eric. He drew a long suck on his cigarette before continuing.

"Okay Eric, here's the op. Before the Legion can make planet fall on Kentares, we need to neutralize a section of their orbital defense grid: specifically a pair of mobile orbital defense lasers, called MODLs for short. Steiner has paid off the Corvatti mining corporation to smuggle a medium lance of Legion Mechs into a remote spaceport on Kentares."

            Eric didn't miss a beat. "Lemme guess, that medium lance is Striker Lance?"

            The Colonel laughed. "Good guess! You'll be hidden alongside heavy mining equipment to avoid casual detection. I'm sending Mandrill along as your tac officer. Your tech support will be light, but with some healthy scavenging you should be able to survive the two weeks until the Legion is ready for planet fall."

            Eric grinned. "Looks like we get to be the pirates for once."

            The Colonel chuckled again. "Roger. Mandrill also has leads on the Kentares black market. You'll be able to trade for weapons and chassis until the Legion makes planet fall."

            Eric realised the enormity of the task he had just been handed. But he didn't have to ponder whether to turn down the assignment or not. His mind was instantly made up. No more fighting lousy pirates! His voice dripped with confidence as he bolted up from his seat and saluted the Colonel.

            "Aye sir! Striker Lance will deliver!" 

            Colonel Lawhorn got up and returned Eric's salute casually. "See you on Kentares. We're all counting on you," the Colonel paused, before adding with a wide grin, "…. Captain McLair."

            Eric left the Colonel's office with mixed feelings. He'd been given a very high honour: setting up the beachhead for the Legion on Kentares IV. And even a promotion to boot! But the Colonel didn't stop there. He had stated quite explicitly, after announcing Eric's promotion, that there were problems and doubts about the operation.

            "I don't trust the Lyrans, Eric. Don't tell this to anyone, especially your lance, but you better be careful. The Lyrans are paying us much more than a regular contract and that's fishy. They might default on payment; frame us for some diabolical action, put our name in their mercenary black lists, anything to make sure they needn't pay up."

            Eric wasn't sure if the Lyrans would try such a sneaky trick on them, but he would watch his back all right. 

            For now though, who cares about backstabbers?

            The night was filled with fun and laughter as Eric celebrated his promotion with all his mates. Even Isabel had lost her sour mood and joined in their card game. Eric did lose quite a bit of cash that night, though part of it was because he wasn't concentrating on the game completely. He was too pre-occupied with the Colonel's earlier warning.

_Black Knight Legion Headquarters_

_Corvatti Mining Colony HB-3_

_21st September 3063_

            Striker Lance was already grouped at the mission briefing room when Mandrill walked in on them. It would be their last formal briefing; for they would take off on the Corvatti dropship an hour later. She could see the eagerness bubbling out of each of the lance members. They had barely slept through the night, but apparently that didn't stop their eagerness. Although she was also going with them, she wasn't feeling as enthusiastic. She had already done this before, and anyway she doubted that she would really see much action. Not unless they got captured. Mandrill shook away the foreboding thought and cleared her throat before starting to brief the assembled lance. She started off with congratulating Eric.

            "Congratulations on your promotion, Captain."

            Eric just returned a jovial nod. No wise cracks. Mandrill continued.

            "In our next mission, firepower will be of the utmost importance. We have limited intel on what we will be facing in the spaceport and our support vehicles will be extremely vulnerable until we get to a defensible HQ. After the mission, I'll make contact with the black market. I'll report any findings in the Mech Lab market roster. Check there to see what's available."

            She looked around at the Mechwarriors. "Any questions?"

            "Do we get a chance to buy souvenirs from the Kentares spaceport? I'd love to get some better tasting beer from there too."

            Mandrill grinned. "No, Radcliffe. Not unless you want shrapnel for souvenirs and iced heat sink fluid for beer."

            Radcliffe grinned back and kept quiet after that. Eric remained quiet, for some reason not making any wise cracks as he always did. Probably a slight case of nerves, Mandrill mused.

            "No more questions? All right then. Time to go! Be at the docking bay at 0700 hours sharp. Don't be late – no more shuttles to Kentares IV after that."

            Eric chuckled a little at Mandrill's last jibe but the laughter didn't reach his belly as it would've. The Colonel's warning still rang in his head, even after a night of partying. He thought of the consequences if the Lyrans really betrayed them. The Colonel wouldn't be able to extract them, not without landing a sizable force and incurring heavy casualties. Once down on the planet, Striker Lance would be on their own. 

            Was Striker Lance going to be left to rot on Kentares IV?

_Mercenary Jump Ship Adam Smith_

_Zenith Jump Point_

_Corvatti Mining Colony HB-3_

_23rd September 3063_

            "Thirty seconds to countdown. All personnel prepare for jump."

_            Eric sat still in his jump seat. This was probably his tenth or maybe fifteenth time he was jumping into hyperspace, but there was still the unease he always felt before jumping into hostile territory. At the least he didn't feel uneasy about the operation anymore. Throughout the trip to the Jump Ship, Eric had time to mull over the possibilities of the Lyrans betraying his lance. He finally came to a solid conclusion: the Lyrans would only betray them after the entire operation was over. There would be no point in destroying a small lance of 4 or 5 Mechs on Kentares IV, for the remaining members of the Legion would seek retribution and prove to be quite a formidable force. Therefore the best time to betray the Legion would be after the Davionists on Kentares IV had been brought down. Eric felt better after coming to that conclusion._

            "Ten ….."

            He looked over at Mandrill, sitting in the row in front of him. He couldn't help but stare at her flowing black hair and smooth, fair skin. 

            "Nine ….."

            Why was he staring at her for?

            "Eight ….."

            Eric looked away and double-checked his buckles. Just to keep himself busy.

            "Seven ….."

            Sitting next to Eric, Radcliffe grinned privately as he saw his lance leader blush a little and look away from Mandrill. Now that was interesting. Eric having a crush on her? 

            "Six …."

            Eric should be beyond the age of crushes. But Mandrill is quite attractive after all. And Eric has been single for as long as Radcliffe as known him. 

            "Five ….."

            This might be worth watching. Maybe something would develop out of it. Radcliffe felt like laughing but kept it to himself.

            "Four ….."

            Isabel sat behind Radcliffe, almost nodding off. She quickly blinked her eyes open. Last night's merrymaking was almost a bit too much on her. This will be interesting, sleeping through a hyperspace jump. Wonder what will happen.

            "Three ….."

            No way. I'm not going to be caught sleeping after the jump. She felt her eyelids close again and struggled to open them.

            "Two ….."

            Robert was too busy tightening his straps to think of anything else. 

            "One ….."

            Mandrill uttered a silent prayer.

            "God take care of us all."

            And they jumped.

A/N : An extra long prologue hopefully to tantalise taste buds for the first mission on Kentares IV. I won't have much time to continue the story cos exams are here again, damn it. Still, I'm tempted to try and finish off a few missions before disappearing again.

I wonder if I got any details wrong though, so please do correct me if I'm wrong. Things like whether it is logical to travel to the nadir jump point in about 3 days, details on the Vengeance storyline, the attack on the Grey Death Legion, for starters. I've sourced info from MW4 Mercenaries for the last bit. And many thanks to the reviewers. Though I'm a bit saddened at the lack of reviewers, I'm happy to see most reviews are positive. To fire9tasadaris, thank you for your comments, but I **was **trying to raise the importance of heat in this story. It doesn't really make sense to fire lasers without even feeling a spike in the heat, which should be enough to knock you out if you weren't wearing a cooling vest! However, agreed, I'll cut down on the heat factor a little though. Otherwise I'd have trouble getting my hero units to survive any battle without sweating buckets J


	10. Spaceport Assault

_Corvatti Drop Ship Black Spear_

_Inbound_

_Kentares IV_

_30th September 3063_

            Finally, a planet with grass, a very breathable atmosphere, and blue skies. The place seems like paradise after the dull grey of the mining colonies. 

            Of course it was all just a simulation, but Eric knew that the Kentares IV landscape wouldn't be too far away from this recreation. He breathed deeply, even though the air he breathed was actually the air in his simulator's cockpit, which in turn was being taken from the dropship atmosphere. Suddenly his earphone came to life.

            "Eric, this would be how the landscape of Kentares IV is like."

            He smiled, recognising the speaker's voice, and keyed a response.

            "You ought to join us down here, Mandrill. Beeeeautiful day."

            "Yeah, this landscape fits Mandrill's good looks just fine."

            Eric frowned at Radcliffe's retort. He moved his control stick, torso-turning to look at the _Catapult standing behind him, on his left side. For the last few days, since the completion of their jump, Radcliffe had seemed to be trying to put Eric in a spot when Eric was talking to Mandrill. Maybe Radcliffe somehow knew that he had a slight crush on her. Regardless, his crack needed a retort._

            "Very funny, Radcliffe. Watch it that I don't turn turncoat and start firing on your rear armour. All that LRM ammo exploding would really leave a headache."

            Before Radcliffe answered, Isabel cut in. "Which kind of makes me wonder: why did you pick to pilot that _Ryoken_ Eric? You'd rather give the heavy Mech to that old boy there?" Her _ Bushwhacker _stood twenty metres off Eric's right flank. After her encounter with the pirate Mech the other day, it seemed ironic that she would be piloting that ride now. At the least she was sure it wasn't the same Mech she had brought down. Unless the master technician she spoke to was lying.

            "Hey, I'd attract less attention with this Mech. Gives me the better chance to sneak around and snipe the enemy with my ER large lasers and LRMs. Right, Olsen?"

            No response. Eric smirked. Olsen was sulking after being assigned a new _Assassin_. He was wishing for a medium Mech like the _Shadowcat_ or even the _Ryoken_ but Eric felt that Olsen still needed more practise with his piloting skills, and it would be better to start in a light chassis.

            Mandrill, breaking silence after all this while, finally over-rode their frequencies and gave the order.

            "Move out and engage the enemy at nav Beta. Take it as a simple test of your skills in your new Mechs. Let's see some teamwork."

            "Aye aye, ma`am!"

_Corvatti Drop Ship Black Spear_

_Inbound_

_Kentares IV_

_1st October 3063_

            Activating his microphone by dropping his jaw, Eric spoke on his lance's frequency. "Okay Striker Lance, we're showing no Mech activity in the spaceport. Once we touchdown, get the tech vehicles clear ASAP. We'll get nav plots from Mandrill once we're on the ground. Intel reports two Calliope turrets flanking the main gates on the south side of the base, so watch out for them."

            The _Black Spear had just received landing coordinates from the spaceport control tower. According to plan, Striker Lance would quickly disembark first to neutralise all nearby hostiles and then clear the way for the support vehicles to a clearing south of the spaceport. There were two problems: one being that the intel they had on the spaceport was more than a year old, and the other being that they had no intel on the area's defences. There could be an assault lance stationed in the vicinity but they wouldn't know about it until a Gauss slug smashed into them. _

            And furthermore, plans almost never work out on the field. As if to prove his point, the urgent voice of Mandrill came over the line. 

            "Eric, we detect more than 2 Calliope turrets around the base! Another pair of Calliopes guarding the northern entrance of the base. This could get pretty bad. You'll have to clear them quickly. Also, we've identified a lance of Mechs in partial shutdown on the eastern perimeter of the base. Unknown chassis weight. Looks like the spaceport garrison."

            Radcliffe interjected, "Now that wasn't on any of our briefings!"

            Eric shook his head. "Cut it out, Radcliffe. We've got enough firepower to take all of them out, unless the lance turns out to be an assault or heavy lance. When we hit the ground, scan the sector for enemies and neutralise any threats. Then Isabel, Olsen; escort the techs out of the base and destroy the turrets. Watch out for infantry firing on our vehicles. The turrets probably have a power generator somewhere in the spaceport. They can't possibly fire upon us while we're still in the base perimeters, so find the generator and we've got a clear path out of here. Radcliffe, you're with me. Investigate the lance of Mechs and let's try to make sure they never do power up."

            His lance, including Olsen, responded affirmatively. 

            Mandrill announced to them, "Spaceport in sight. Defences are still down. This is it, Striker Lance."

            "You heard the lady, Striker Lance! We're grounding in less than 5 minutes. Clear the comm. and get moving the moment the bay door opens." Eric shut off his mike and watched the countdown timer. Doubts returned: what if the Lyrans had really leaked their impending assault to the Dresaris already? 'No choice. We'll have to wish for some luck,' Eric thought.

_Spaceport Kappa Phi_

_Correl Peninsular_

_Kentares IV_

_1st October 3063_

_            Eric pranced his _Ryoken_ towards the Mech hangars, watching his sensors with the keen senses of a bat. Just behind him, Radcliffe brought up his _Catapult_. _

            Upon landing, Striker Lance had quickly disembarked and found hardly any activity in the spaceport. In fact, the port defenders were caught napping. Only after they had walked their Mechs out on to spaceport tarmac and started to take out guard posts, then the alarms started to wail. They made short work of the infantry defenders, blowing apart their machine gun nests and infantry transports with just their lasers. A lance of _Bulldog tanks now lay quiet nearby after Olsen levelled the crews' barracks with a full salvo of missiles. After the destruction of the barracks, resistance swiftly tapered off. The support vehicles started to roll out of the _Black Spear_, while Striker lance split up on the pre-assigned duties. _

            So far so good.

            "This is Striker Three! We're approaching the main gates, sir. No sign of the power generator anywhere. You'll have to take it out for us, Eric. We'll hold position here and try to fend off any attacks, but be quick."

            "Affirmative, Striker One out."

            Eric was still busy skirting the many small buildings blocking their view of the Mech hangars. Not only did the buildings block their view, they also shielded the defenders from his sensors. This would turn out to be one close-range fight, if the Mechs had successfully powered up. Eric had expected the spaceport to have many buildings, according to the briefing, but apparently the intel from the Lyrans were pretty bad in those terms. Seemed like the Dresaris had purposely erected temporary buildings to create a pseudo-urban environment – possibly one of the worst environments Mechs could operate in. 

            Then they got ambushed.

            "Arrgh! I'm hit! I'm hit!"

            Eric checked his rear view camera and was astonished to see Radcliffe's _Catapult _lying prone on the ground and a huge gash in its rear armour. Even more astonishing was the Mech standing behind it: an _Axeman, with its jump jet ports still steaming. Eric hadn't expected such a Mech here in the Dresari spaceport, considering how remote this place was. Perhaps the Lyrans had under-estimated the garrison force. Armed with a Luxor Devastator autocannon on its left arm and medium lasers on its right arm wrists, the _Axeman _sent a shudder through Eric when he glimpsed the huge ferro-fibrous battle axe in the right fist of the Mech. That weapon, added with its jump jet capabilities, had enough close-range firepower to kill even an assault Mech. It had struck down Radcliffe with a swipe from its battleaxe and a burst from its autocannon, thoroughly eviscerating the Mech's rear armour but fortunately not breaking through the reactor shielding. For now, it still ignored Eric._

            Then it suddenly looked up and bathed Eric's _Ryoken in laser fire. Eric grimaced as he watched armour melt off his rear torso. Luckily the lasers were just medium class and didn't do as much damage as the autocannon. _

            Relying on his impulses, Eric swiftly whipped his Mech around and quickly triggered all his lasers, trying to hit the enemy Mech before it attacked Radcliffe. A well-aimed blow from the axe could instantly decapitate the prone _Catapult_, and he'll be damned if he'd let Radcliffe die just like that! The temperature spiked momentarily, giving Eric a swift reminder that his cooling curve was much worse in this semi-tropical environment than on the mining colony before this. He quickly called out to Radcliffe to pull out of the area. Radcliffe didn't respond. Instead Eric heard Isabel on the comm. line.

            "Striker One! Do we move to assist?"

            The _Axeman made its move before Eric could reply to Isabel's call. It had been barely struck by Eric's flurry of laser shots earlier, but knew that Eric posed a greater threat than Radcliffe now and was now trying to close in with Eric. The Mech nimbly jumped over Radcliffe and landed not 20 metres away from Eric's _Ryoken_. At that distance, Eric's long range missiles were useless. _

            But Eric had modified his chassis to support SRMs instead, after the last round in the simulators. He had been knocked around by a _Hunchback_'s heavy autocannon at close range; almost destroying his simulated Mech. Fortunately Eric had already pummelled him with missiles before it successfully closed the distance, enough to finish it off with his lasers. Still the lesson was well-learnt: Eric had traded off his long-range capability for the close-range stopping power of the SRM. 

            Eric fired off his SRMs, this time impacting almost every missile on the enemy Mech. 

            He put his Mech into reverse as he watched the missile rounds blast armour off the Mech. The pilot must have been surprised by Eric's configuration, and almost stumbled over. Eric laughed cruelly, then remembered Isabel's offer for help earlier.

            "Negative, Striker Three. Hold position. I've got a feeling that the other 3 Mechs of the lance are converging on your position, repeat, 3 Mechs. Hang tight!"

            "Affirmative Striker One. Striker Four is now scouting on the rooftops for any signs of the remaining members of the enemy lance. Good hunting, sir."

            Eric grinned at the last remark, but didn't have time to respond to Isabel, for the _Axeman had risen and was bringing its autocannon to bear on Eric._

            Just then, his threat indicators rang.

            "Enemy Mech _behind me!!" Eric shouted at in alarm. Too late._

            A full burst of autocannon fire raked Eric's back, bursting open his rear torso and chipping away at Eric's fusion reactor shielding. 

            Robert Olsen saw the blips on his sensors just before he heard his lance leader scream something about some enema being behind him. Olsen didn't know if his lance leader needed help, but he knew that he had better get Isabel to back him up now. 

            "Striker Three! I saw two slow blips on my sensors just now, 100 metres from my location! I think it was 2 _UrbanMechs! Requesting backup!"_

            "Striker Four, didn't you hear Striker One calling out just now? He needs help!"

            Robert shook his head. "We've got to deal with these two Mechs first! They are much closer to the convoy!"

            Mandrill came onto the frequency. "Striker Four is right, Three. If those are two _UrbanMech_s, he's going to be outgunned. Priority is to the convoy. I still read Striker Two as functional. He'll aid Striker One. We can hold our own against any infantry here."

            Isabel almost blasted back, "You mean priority goes to that vehicle you're sitting in now!!" but held back. Once again she'd have to acquiesce and obey Mandrill's command. She swiftly turned her Mech towards Olsen's position and started to run towards him.

            For the first time since piloting the _Ryoken_, Eric wished he had jump jets. With the lack in mobility, he couldn't get out of the precarious position he had now.

            The _Axeman had been joined by an _UrbanMech_, and they both surrounded him now, _Axeman _to his left and the other to his right. It was the __UrbanMech who had stealthily crept up his back and smashed his rear armour with its medium autocannon. Eric now had his back to a building to protect his ravaged rear armour, and knew that he had only seconds to survive if he tried to engage any one of his attackers, as the other would unload weapons fire on his rear.  _

            "Damn it, Radcliffe, I need help now ….." he mumbled through gritted teeth.

            Autocannon fire skipped off his right arm, tearing through one of his large lasers. One weapon gone and he hadn't even made a kill yet! 

            'Of course, I might not even survive this fight,' Eric thought gloomily.

            If he had to go down, he'd go down fighting!! He promptly decided that the _UrbanMech_ would make a better target to unload on, given the Mech's lesser armour compared to the _Axeman_. Taking out at the least one Mech would even out the odds facing the remainder of his lance. Eric quickly switched his all weapons to a primary fire group. Meanwhile more bursts of autocannon from both Mechs had cratered his armour on both his flanks. Warning lights had started to show, but fortunately no weapons were lost in the last assaults. 

            Before Eric made his move, his comm. line flickered. It was the pilot of the _Axeman_.

            "Pilot of the pirate _Ryoken. Power down your Mech and we will let you live. We've got you surrounded and your lance leader dead. This is your last chance."_

            Such audacity! The Dresari pilots probably thought that Radcliffe was the lance leader. But was he really dead? Eric felt a sense of dread creep into him. Didn't he call out when he got hit? He couldn't be dead now. 

            Right on cue, Eric heard a war-like yell over his comm. line. 

            "Tallyho!"

            The _Axeman suddenly stumbled over and crashed to the ground, face-first Eric didn't need to know what had happened. Radcliffe had been feigning unconsciousness and had waited for the _Axeman _to develop a false sense of security. He had overheard their transmission to Eric and quickly got up just in time to pummel the _Axeman_ from behind with his full complement of LRMs. Armour shards flew all over the place, some even glancing off Eric. But he ignored it._

It was the _UrbanMech's turn to get pasted. _

            Eric brought his Mech around to bear on the other Mech and unloaded his full weapons complement onto it, who was so surprised to see his lancemate down that he didn't even fire off a shot at Eric. The SRMs bathed the Mech in flames and it crashed backward on to the ground, unable to take the abuse. Eric quickly jogged over to the Mech and crushed the autocannon on its stubby left arm with his Mech's leg, rendering it useless. Behind him, Radcliffe had jumped his Mech right on to the _Axeman's left arm, impaling it to the ground with his Mech's weight. Just to make sure, Radcliffe's lasers cut through its right leg to permanently disable the Mech._

            "There's a present from heaven, you old prick!! I'm back from the dead!" Radcliffe taunted the _Axeman over the general frequencies._

            Eric grinned as he watched the _Axeman squirm and try to free itself on his rear monitors. The _UrbanMech _was now effectively weaponless; having only a small laser left while his lancemate was prone on the ground. He toggled for the general frequencies._

            "Give it up. Power down _your Mechs and we'll let __you live. Got it?" Eric said gleefully, emphasising the same words the _Axeman_'s pilot used earlier._

            Isabel fired another round of autocannon at the _UrbanMech_, knocking it over. The badly damaged Mech crashed backwards into a nearby warehouse and never got up again. The pilot had either knocked himself out cold, or was wisely playing dead. Not that his Mech could do much anyway, with hardly any armour to fight further. Isabel smiled triumphantly. She activated her comm. link.

            "Olsen, you've got that other _UrbanMech wrapped up? I'm done a little bit early here."_

            "He's been a little nasty with me, but I think I've got him now. Just a little while more ……" there was the sound of weapons discharge.

            "… done. One kill for the scoreboard!"

            Isabel chuckled. Olsen was spending so much time with Radcliffe till he had picked up Radcliffe's brand of humour. But at the least he was getting more confident in battle. They both had engaged the Mechs at the same time earlier and then split off to fight their own battles. Olsen didn't need much help this time. He got banged up a little for a while but still hung on long enough to defeat the other pilot. Not bad, but then he was going up one-on-one against an _UrbanMech_, 10 tonnes lighter than his _Assassin _and not as maneuverable as the_ Assassin_. 

            Nevertheless Isabel resisted the urge to dampen Olsen's enthusiasm and instead just told him, "Got it, Striker Four. I've just heard from Mandrill, Striker One and Two have joined up with the convoy. See if you can find the generator and let's get out of here. I think we've worn out our welcome."

            Less than half an hour later, Striker Lance was escorting the support vehicles to a nearby abandoned mining encampment, hauling along two chassis on captured Prime Movers. A few Peregrine light attack choppers tried to track their progress but were easily driven off by Radcliffe's LRMs.

Half a kilometre away on a ridge overlooking the Legionnaires, a man put away his binoculars and walked back to his jeep. He turned on the ignition and quickly drove off, out of sight from the mercenaries.

            "Interesting. Very interesting. These pirates are quite well-equipped and well trained. I wonder if they'd join us?" he mused to himself.


	11. Clipping Dresari's Wings

_Correl Peninsular_

_Kentares IV_

_2nd October 3063_

            The scene was perfect for a romantic holo-vid or for some couple to tie the knot. The rising sun, wispy clouds dotting the sky, the native birds of Kentares making their first flights of the day, humid smell of the mornings after a particularly dewy night ….. and the hulking shapes of Striker Lance's Mechs silhouetted by the morning sun. Radcliffe and Isabel were still on camp patrol, being the first line of defence against any would-be attackers if the Dresari forces ever found them. They shouldn't, considering that their camp location was in a well-entrenched position in the middle of an abandoned mining camp. The metal signatures of the place would serve as a perfect mask for their Mechs, and camouflage tarpaulins were used to mask their vehicles and camps from direct visual identification from any satellites or over-flying aircraft. However a little precaution never hurt. Radcliffe and Isabel were just slowly walking around the camp's outer perimeter in low-power, watching for any signs of possible ambush or reconnaissance units. Eric, who had just awoken, stood outside his personal tent.

            The previous day, Eric had led the way into the mining camp and then quickly taking point while his lance powered down to be serviced by the technicians. His armour was in shambles after the tussle with the _Axeman_ but they had fought off all the Dresari air forces attempting to tail them, and there shouldn't be any way for the Dresaris to locate them, for now. Eric would have to do something about those air forces sooner or later. They were a force to reckon with, having almost destroyed one of the supply transports with a concentrated attack of LRMs yesterday. Only Radcliffe's decisive move to quickly jump his _Catapult_ to absorb most of the missile attack saved the crew; as well as Radcliffe's favourite beef burgers being stored in the vehicle. 

            Eric grinned at the thought of that. So typical of Radcliffe to quip, even after using his Mech as a shield for others. Radcliffe was badly shaken by a few missile rounds on his cockpit, but was feeling okay now. 

            He stretched his muscles and yawned to clear his groggy mind. Only having slept 4 hours, Eric was feeling a little beat-up. But they'd have to move fast to catch the Dresari off-guard, and Eric would have to lead the way in the assault today. For one thing, he needed to check with Mandrill about what mission options there were. The short brisk walk to the makeshift command tent invigorated him. He lifted the flap of the tent and found Mandrill working at a table with two other command staff. A map lay on the table, with plenty of markings on it. Nearby them, a radioman sat at another table listening mutely to some transmissions over the general frequencies.

            "G'morning, Mandrill. Got any mission specs for us?"

            Mandrill turned to look at him and Eric could see the tired look on her face. Eric raised an eyebrow, cutting in before Mandrill could reply.

            "Good grief, woman, you've had better days. Been awake all night?"

            Mandrill smiled and shook her head. Eric loved to see her smile; therefore he was always trying to find ways to cheer her up. 

            "Eric, somebody has to stay up and coordinate all the activities on-camp. Unlike the bunch of glorified Mechwarriors we have here, some of us," the two staff members smirked at Eric, "have to stay up the whole night planning the next day's activities."

            Eric held up his hands in a gesture of surrender. "Right, right, you fellas have blown my ego to bits. But let's not forget, it's we guys who have to bear the brunt of it all in battle. You guys can just stay here, cocooned in safety while we get some autocannon rounds trying to form cocoons around our cockpits."

            Mandrill smiled again. "Well, speaking of autocannon rounds, we had to take off the Devastator off the _Axeman. We don't have any reloads in the inventory but we found a large laser to replace it instead. Probably means a lot hotter Mech but it's better than running out of ammo in the middle of combat. The techs are still going over repairing that Mech and adding heat sinks. We've scrapped the _UrbanMech_ down to the last bit of ferro-fibrous; it was not really usable anymore. Your lance's Mechs are in as good a condition as they can get."_

            Eric nodded. He came closer to Mandrill, smelling her perfume while looking at the map on the table. 'She always smells so good', Eric thought silently.

            Absently, he pointed to the map's marked positions.

            "What mission ops do we have?"

            Mandrill walked over to the radioman and picked up a few sheets of paper scribbled with writing. "We started picking up local broadcasts from government media and local opposition groups. It appears Dresari is really in a messy situation here. Shortly after the death of his sister, several key advisors broke from his side and began a rebel movement under the banner of the KFA, Kentares Free Army. Political dissidents are being rounded up into camps and conflict has escalated to battlefield aggression. This may make our job a lot easier. Until we go after the MODLs, we'll need to keep one Mechwarrior with Tac Com for local security. You'll have to run the next few missions with only two lancemates."

            Mandrill passed the papers to Eric, and then gestured to a point on the map.

            "We have a decent location on the local Dresari airbase. It is defended by Mech patrols and turrets as well as its attendant aircraft. Taking it out should lessen enemy air support in this theatre of operations."

            Eric had leafed through only two pages of the papers; the radioman's writing was far too messy for him to read. He placed it on the table and rubbed his chin. "And taking out the airbase now would make it that much harder for them to locate our camp too. Any idea of those Mech defenders?"

            Mandrill shook her head. "Major Dupree could only supply us with satellite pictures, nothing more. We've been trying to analyse the shots, and we can ascertain that the airbase is defended by a perimeter of Calliope turrets. The turret controls are in a very exposed position and shouldn't be a problem to knock out. As for the Mech defenders; it seems that the Lyrans under-estimated the defences of this peninsular. There appears to be two full lances of Mechs around that base, but we can't be really sure."

            Eric sighed. Bad odds. They would be outnumbered two to one, and worse still Eric would only have two lancemates. 

            "I think we better postpone the mission to tonight. We can't possibly move out in the bright light of day, we need stealth to cover our approach. Hopefully we catch the defenders napping."

            Mandrill pondered over that a while, then nodded. "Agreed. That will give the techs more time to prep your Mechs anyway. You might want to go over the mission parameters with me now, and brief your lancemates later."

            Eric felt his stomach grumble at him for neglecting his breakfast, but he ignored it. What better way to spend the morning than with Mandrill?

_Correl Peninsular_

_Kentares IV_

_2nd October 3063_

            "External lights off, radar set to passive mode."

            "Ditto here, Striker One."

            Eric acknowledged Radcliffe and Isabel's comm. reports. They were approaching the north-west corner of the airbase, and stealth was now essential for their attack.

Mandrill's voice came on, sounding a little crackling since she was more than a kilometre away. Eric had preferred her to stay at the base-camp, defended by Robert Olsen, but she wanted to be near the battle to coordinate the fight, so she was in an armoured APC escorted by a Swiftwind and two Condors (hovercraft tanks), far behind them. 

            "Okay Striker Lance, op orders as follows. Move to the air base at nav Alpha and destroy the air control tower and any aircraft hangars you encounter. Dresari comm. intercepts indicate a significant Mech presence in and around the airfield. Report ready op."

            Eric keyed his transmitter. "Op order received. Striker Lance reports ready op."

            "Roger. Op time is 2145 hours. Mandrill out."

            Eric switched to his lance's frequency. "Okay Striker Lance, keep a close eye on the scanners. They don't know we're coming, so let's maximize the surprise factor. We take out this airfield and we can expect a lot less air harassment in our future ops."

            Isabel replied, "Roger. I've had enough of these Dresari jet jockeys already." Radcliffe just keyed his transmitter in response.

            Eric pushed his throttle up to the max, bringing his _Ryoken into a loping run at roughly 85 kilometres per hour. Behind him, Radcliffe's __Catapult and Isabel's _Bushwhacker _ran to catch up with him. The terrain was dotted with a few trees, allowing them to run at their top speed. Nav Alpha loomed closer on their sensors. Still no response, which was good._

            At 1.5 klicks from the base, Eric picked out a bunch of lights shining far away on his left flank. He slowed his Mech, activated his lance's frequency.

            "Lamps there at 10 o'clock. Mechs. Probably one of the defending lances."

            "Striker One, do we engage now? We'd alert the base to our presence then."

            "We can't let this lance slip in behind our backs while we take out the base, Striker Three. We get sandwiched between the on-base defenders and this lance, we're finished."

            Radcliffe reported, "Looks like a bunch of light and medium Mechs. Easy pickings, if we strike fast."

            Eric radioed Mandrill about his impending attack on the lance of Mechs, and she also concurred.

            "Keep your radar on passive. Let's rock, guys!"

            "Guys?"

            Eric groaned. "All right, boys _and girls. Move it Isabel!"_

            All three of them fired their long range weapons in unison, attaining their objective of stunning the mixed enemy lance. Autocannon fire from Isabel's AC10 drilled into a _Javelin_, while Eric's and Radcliffe's large lasers converged on a _Raven, melting off generous amounts of armour on its torso. The two Mechs staggered and faltered in their steps, while their compatriots searched for the source of the sudden attack. Eric grinned devilishly, pleased that the enemy lance was that wet behind their ears. This was the perfect terrain for long-range combat, and so he had switched back his SRMs for LRM launchers. It meant losing some armour on his Mech but the added offensive capability meant a lot to him. He hovered his reticule over the almost stationary __Raven (as well as he could on a Mech running at its top speed) and triggered his LRMs. Beside him, Radcliffe unleashed his LRMs on the _Javelin_ Isabel had struck earlier. Even Isabel launched her LRMs, adding to the hellish salvo of missiles bearing in on the two light Mechs. Each of them hadn't activated their active sensors yet, hence their missiles weren't locked on to the Mechs._

            But then how hard would it be to hit a stationary target?

            The missile fire wreaked havoc amongst the enemy lance, unaccustomed to dealing with a much heavier attacking force and completely caught by surprise out on these open fields. Missiles which didn't smash into armour plates blew the terrain all over the place, creating the effect slightly similar to Arrow IV missile artillery barrage. In the chaos, Eric spied the only medium Mech in the lance, a _Crab_. He immediately ordered his lancemates to engage the others and leave the _Crab to him. He'd been relishing a chance to slug it out with a so-called Davion officer!_

            Just over a mile away, Mandrill watched the conflict over audio feeds and data telemetry received from Striker lance. Somehow it felt so much tenser listening to the battle than actually witnessing it through Mech gun cameras as she usually did, but Eric had argued that setting up the video telemetry as they did in past missions could compromise her location. Low-key and short bursts of information from the lance would serve better. She sighed absently, remembering how she finally gave in to Eric's arguments. Eric really cared for her, but she just couldn't reciprocate his feelings. She shook the thought off and continued to watch the sensors and data feed.

            Eric finally had his first taste of utter victory. Striker lance was barely damaged after the short scuffle, and the _Crab and an __Osiris was quite salvageable, provided the salvage crews had enough time to work on them. All the enemy pilots even ejected successfully. But now they had other concerns._

            "Incoming air bogeys on your south-south-west, angels 10."

            Eric keyed his transmitter. "Roger that Mandrill. We're ready for them."

            The _Raven_ must have had the chance to radio an emergency call to the airbase. However it wouldn't do much to help. Striker lance was now within visual range of the base, just shielded behind a ridge, and most of the planes were not even powered up yet. Only about 4 Peregrine attack choppers were in the air, and Eric noticed only a few other rotary-wing aircraft starting up their engines. 

Just moments ago Striker lance turned on their sensors and soon started receiving readings from Radcliffe's Beagle Active Probe sensors.

            "Striker One! I detect three enemy Mechs moving in on our position. _Catapult_, _Uziel and," with a touch of malice in his voice, "a _Commando_."_

            Eric realised that his lance severely outgunned the enemy lance, unless the last undetected Mech proved to be a heavy or assault. Better remain cautious.

            "Strikers Two and Three pick out a target for yourselves and stick with it for now. Be careful, we still don't know what the last Mech is. I'll supply air cover and then I'll go after the turret controls. Watch yourselves. Striker One out."

            Switching his ER large lasers to single fire, Eric's contemptuously lanced his fiery red beams into the enemy choppers from a distance. One solid hit was enough to eviscerate the lightly armoured Peregrines, and soon all 4 choppers were just flaming wrecks on the ground. They succeeded in damaging a little of his armour though, but not enough to worry Eric yet. 

            The Calliope turrets worried him more.

            Radcliffe and Isabel were sticking together on his far right flank, trying hard to stay out of visual lock of the turrets while sniping away at the Dresari Mechs hiding between the few turrets and airbase buildings. So far the turrets' armament of LRMs and medium class pulse lasers has barely nicked their armour but it would take a slight mistake for them and the Dresari forces would bring in their firepower. Eric would have to brave the turrets to enter the base and knock out the control grid. Fortunately for him, most of the Dresari forces were engrossed in his other two lancemates.

            Big mistake.

            Eric pushed his Mech into a full loping run, struggling to hold his Mech firmly upright. He crested the ridge and found himself running right at a Calliope turret aiming at his lancemates. Eric fired his full complement of weapons immediately, but that was pretty unnecessary. His ER large lasers and ER medium lasers bit into the armoured turret with a vengeance, setting off the ammunition stores within. The resultant explosion almost blinded Eric, but he ran on past the flaming wreck right into the base. He panted as the heat in his Mech went up almost into the critical zone, but he had no time to slow down and wait for his Mech to cool. 

            Eric had only gone more than 20 metres when the _Commando suddenly blocked his way, popping out from inside an aircraft hangar. Eric felt a slight tremor run through his Mech as the _Commando_ hit him with a few SRMs. Stupid move, the _Commando _could have attacked his rear armour instead where it would've made a bigger difference. Eric fired his medium lasers at the Mech but missed, sending his beams into the walls of the hangar behind it. _

            Just then Eric remembered. Wasn't there a _Commando near the other Dresari Mechs just now?_

            "I've found the last Mech! _Commando! These guys are pretty outgunned!" Eric shouted joyfully over his lance's frequencies. Isabel and Radcliffe just acknowledged with grunts, signs that they were still concentrating on their battle. Eric knew they needed him to quickly take down the turrets. Just then his LRMs cycled free, and a lock sounded in his ears. He thumbed the trigger and watched as LRMs bathed the puny 25 tonne Mech in flames. It managed to pull back into the hangar, but the pilot must have been badly shaken by the missiles. _

            Eric decided to just ignore the Mech and ran on past the hangar, searching for the turret control tower. On his way, he passed the air control tower. Eric unleashed a full burst of missiles and took down the structure. Then he saw the array standing right smack in the middle of the airbase, defended by a few laser turrets manned manually by soldiers. Deciding that the tower had a higher priority, he fired his large lasers into the tower, burning into its communications array. A few laser shots burned into his arm and torso armour, but they did nothing to scar his fast-rising spirits. His comm. line buzzed with excitement.

            "All right! Turrets down! Striker Two engaging enemy _Catapult!"_

            "I'm on the _Uziel_!"

            Eric couldn't help but smile at his lancemates' enthusiasm, but had to transmit a warning anyway. "Watch your backs, Strikers. That _Commando_ could hit you pretty bad if you don't watch it."

            He didn't expect how accurate his words would be, until he felt weapons fire rake his vulnerable rear armour. Drat! The last _Commando had come after him! The damage indicators flashed a warning at him, telling him that a few sections of his rear armour were almost virtually gone. _

            Eric watched his rear monitors and saw that the _Commando had bugged out. Now that pilot was getting cleverer. Eric dealt with the laser turrets ringing the tower first before retreating to a safer position, where the enemy __Commando could not sneak up on him that easily. When it did try to sneak up on him again, Eric was ready for it. It dashed out from behind cover on his right flank, hitting him with a medium laser but utterly missing with its SRMs. A concentrated burst of lasers cut through the __Commando's flimsy right leg and sent it crashing to the ground. Eric carefully squashed its weapons, leaving it helpless, and then continued to assist his lancemates in bringing down the remaining defenders. After the destruction of the turret control grid, the defenders lost heart and abandoned the base. Striker lance failed to bring down the remaining __Commando and the _Uziel_, but managed to so thoroughly damage the slow-moving __Catapult that it surrendered. _

            Mandrill soon brought in a salvage team with her and quickly cleared the area of any good salvage. They couldn't afford to tow any of the Mechs away but did strip them of all valuable components, lacking any Prime Movers. Before they left, they rigged the area with charges and blew up the target structures plus unsalvageable items. It was a pity that they didn't bring vibra-bombs along; otherwise they could have mined the place and left it unusable for a long period of time. But destroying so many key structures made sure that any re-occupation force would have to work double-shifts just to clear the debris, and that pleased Eric enough. So pleased that he allowed all of the captured Dresari forces to leave, which Mandrill had protested initially but gave in after realising that they didn't have enough provisions to support any prisoners of war.

            Just a few hours before dawn, Striker Lance escorted the tech vehicles and Mandrill out of the area to their own camp. Once again, a solitary figure, though unlike the first one, watched from a discreet distance. He pocketed his telescope and spoke into a radio. 

            "The raiders are very well trained, sir. They actually took down the whole airbase with 3 medium Mechs!"

            A crackling reply came back. "I expected such of them, Private. Did you identify their insignia?"

            The infantryman lifted his noteputer up for ease of reading. "Yes, sir. The Black Knight Legion, sir."

            "Good. Pull back and meet me in the village safe house. We've got to pass on this knowledge to Sir Karl."

            The soldier slunk away under the cover of night and disappeared.

A/N : This time around, a much easier fight for Eric. I think they deserve a break from getting hammered, haha! Anyway, I'm really happy to see that most people appreciate my fan fic. Many thanks to those who have given me encouragement, and also thanks to those who gave me some interesting critiques. 

I'm afraid I can't write much more because my final exams are barely a week more, so the next chapter will only be uploaded in mid-April, at the earliest. I hope I don't lose points with you guys just cos I don't write on a timely basis. Just can't find the time. 

A-Danny, thanks for your critique. To be frank, I treat this is my version of Black Knight. I also hate Microsoft's way of giving Clan Mechs to pirates and militia units so I decided to throw out most of the Clan Mechs in the game in exchange for Inner Sphere Mechs, as evident in this chapter (there was supposed to be 2 or 3 _Shadowcats here!). But it is possible for there to be a few Clan Mechs, after all Operation Serpent had ended and the Victor's Star League was supposed to be selling off Clan tech. So I am writing a fan fic on MW4: Black Knight with more Inner Sphere Mechs but also with a few Clan Mechs. _

**By the way, I've got a question: is Kentares IV in the Lyran Commonwealth? Are Karl Sonntag and Ian Dresari Lyrans?**


	12. Saving Calypso

_Correl Peninsular_

_Kentares IV_

_3rd October 3063_

            Lightning flashed across the sky as Radcliffe paced his _Catapult around Striker lance's encampment. The following grumble of thunder sent slight tremors passing through his Mech. The dull pattering of the rain against his forward viewscreen was about to drive him out of his mind, but he had no choice but to stay on watch duty until it was Eric's turn. He busied himself by constantly toggling his radar active and passive. In passive mode, his radar was pretty useless, with all the rain and lightning. In active mode, he was receiving quite a number of fake signatures too, thanks to the lightning, so he had to switch his radar to another mode temporarily to reset it. _

            Then, for a moment he picked up a strong signal on his active sensors on a hill overlooking the encampment. Before the computer could identify it, or discount it if it was a fake signature, lightning flashed nearby and scrambled his sensors. After resetting the radar, Radcliffe had lost the signal. He shook his head. It was already 3063, more than 30 centuries of human progress, and yet he had radar which was useless in bad weather! He shrugged and ignored the signal, carrying on with his patrol.

            "Sir, we got hit by an active sensor just now. Must be from that _Catapult. Shall we pull back now?"_

            Second Lieutenant Paul Logans put away his binoculars and climbed back into his vehicle to sit next to his driver. Private Rebecca Furwood was very concerned. Their Swiftwind was unarmed and therefore seldom targeted by any armed forces, but they weren't sure of the moral alignment of the mercenaries. Better to pull back. Paul nodded and Rebecca quickly floored the accelerator to get their vehicle out of the area. He sat back and plotted the location of the mercenaries' base on a map. Rebecca glanced over for a while, still wrestling with the controls of the bucking Swiftwind. Even a native of Kentares had problems navigating the rough terrain in such weather. 

            "Lieutenant, are we going to attack their base or maybe reveal their location to the Dresaris?"

            "Neither, my dear. Yet. If Sonntag was here, perhaps I would know which course of action to take. However this is a good bargaining tool, since you mentioned it. The Dresaris would be happy to receive information on the Legion's base, and we could bargain for Sonntag's release." He rubbed his chin, thinking about it a while more. Ever since Karl Sonntag had been `arrested' by Dresari, he had been leading this sub-faction of the KFA, based in an abandoned village. It was the remaining KFA leaders' ideas that they separate their forces to avoid being overwhelmed and captured in one fell swoop. He wondered if the leaders would agree to sacrifice these mercenaries for Karl. Then he thought about the glory of being the one to rescue Karl, all without firing a shot. He grinned. He might as well carry it out quietly first. 

            "I think I will attempt to contact Dresari and see if they are game to this offer."

_Correl Peninsular_

_Kentares IV_

_4th October 3063_

            Eric frowned angrily at the tech sergeant. The man was almost intimidated by Eric's scowl, but tried his best to stand stock still while reporting to the lance leader.

            "All Mech stores are fine, but we lost a lot of our food supplies when the rain flooded our supply tent. We managed to salvage quite a number of food crates but most of our liquid stores have been destroyed." Which was another way of saying that they were out of water.

            Standing behind him, Mandrill laid a hand on Eric's shoulder. "Take it easy on Kevin, Eric. We prepared for all eventualities but not a flash-flood."

            Eric felt the tension rush out of his body upon hearing her voice and feeling her reassuring hand on his shoulder. Damn, and he had so wanted to let out his frustration on the sergeant. Looks like Mandrill saved Kevin's butt this time around. He turned on the chair he was sitting on to look back at Mandrill.

            "All right, then where do we find our supplies?"

            "I'll speak to one of my contacts around here. Maybe that arms dealer can throw in some water for us, for a few C-Bills. Maybe not, but I can try to locate supplies from other sources."

            Eric shrugged. He dismissed the sergeant, leaving him and Mandrill alone in the tent.

            "About this contact of yours. Couldn't you have got some autocannon reloads from him previously? I could have used a pristine _Axeman_ you know." He felt an edge creep into his voice. The tension of this guerrilla war was getting to him. Mandrill must have noticed it too, for she replied with an air of formality, as if he was telling her off as a superior. Worse still, he was sitting down while she was still standing up. 

            "I'm sorry sir, but I felt it wasn't within our operational parameters to promote unnecessary contact with non-Legion personnel who could be, or subverted to, the enemy."

            Eric sighed and shook his head. He tried to soften his tone, though his pride kept him from apologising over his tone.

            "Come on, Mandrill. I'm sure you know these arm dealers enough to know whether or not they would turn to the Dresaris or the Fed Comm. rebels."

            "Sir, as far as the Legion tells me, they are Lyrans who have sworn allegiance to Princess Katrina. But this information was obtained from our Lyran employers, and hence not possibly authenticated by our intelligence personnel. Not with the short time frame which we have been given for initiating this contract."

            Mandrill remained aloof. Looks like she felt pretty miffed at being told off on the _Axeman. Eric felt a ripple of anger pass through him for her childish way of reacting this way to his comments. _

            "All right, then this is an order. Contact that arms dealer. Request water supplies and autocannon reloads, whatever reloads which we do not have!"

            "And ignore all security concerns?" Mandrill's retort had a tinge of disbelief in it. 

            "Okay, fine! Set the meeting place at the destroyed air base. I'll take out two Mechs to be a security detail for the Prime Movers which will take the supplies. Enough?" He inadvertently raised his voice while replying.

            Mandrill eyed him with the flames of anger burning in it. Suddenly he felt so miserable. When she replied, it cut through him.

            "Affirmative, _sir_."

            Then she left him sitting alone in the tent.

_Correl Peninsular_

_Kentares IV_

_4th October 3063_

            Apparently Mandrill proved her efficiency again by arranging for the rendezvous with the black market arms dealer within the same day itself. Or it could have been that she wanted to spite Eric by quickly finishing his orders and then ignoring him for the rest of the time. It didn't sound logical, but Eric still felt that way. 

            Three Prime Movers, almost all they got, a Swiftwind scout and two Bulldogs plus his Mech and Isabel's _Bushwhacker _were sent on this supply run. Mandrill refused to go along, dictating the need for a higher ranking officer to remain on site to supervise any actions. What actions she didn't want to specify, but Eric knew better than to bother to persuade her to go along. He couldn't order her to do it, not without raising her ire even further. And he still couldn't apologise to her. He just wasn't used to dealing with her type yet.

            "Ready to move on your mark, sir."

            Isabel's voice jolted him out of his thoughts. He quickly activated his transmitter, mumbling a quick apology.

            "Sorry. Let's move, people!"

            Isabel jogged her Mech along at a leisurely pace of 30 km/h. The Swiftwind rode in just ahead of her, using its sensors to seek out enemy contacts. Behind him the 3 Prime Movers moved in a column and the two Bulldogs guarded on their left and right flanks, while Eric brought up the rear. He gave one last look at the base, thinking about Mandrill, and sighed deeply.

_Correl Peninsular_

_Kentares IV_

_4th October 3063_

            "Thank you for your business, friend. You got a good deal out of me, yes?"

            Eric felt a headache coming on from dealing with this Lyran with a heavy accent. What accent he wasn't sure, but the man definitely needed to work on his spoken English. But the man was nice, a far cry from the suspicions Eric harboured against Lyran merchants. After Eric had procured quite a lot of ammunition supplies, the arms dealer just offered the water supplies for free. They almost filled a whole Prime Mover with the water supplies and were preparing to leave the site of the destroyed Dresari air base. 

            "Yeah, thanks a lot …. friend. Especially for the water."

            The large man gave a heavy pat on Eric's back, almost hurting him, but Eric smiled back.

            "No problem! Remember Gustaf's good help next time, yes? The good Gustaf, helping his customers whenever he can!" The man gave a loud, uproarious laugh. Eric barely joined in, his mind still on how to apologise to Mandrill. 

            Eric watched as the Prime Mover crews prepared their vehicles for moving out. From his Mech about 10 metres up in the air, the men seemed much smaller. Insignificant, he almost felt like saying. But he knew he couldn't survive without them. Without their help, he might not have his _Ryoken in such good condition now. _

            The arms dealer had left with his own men much earlier, and now his men were almost done. Isabel was checking the area for any possible hostile contacts, along with the Swiftwind scout vehicle. So far there hadn't been any surveillance systems found. Maybe the Dresaris didn't expect them to return to this spot again. In whichever case, that sat well with Eric. He didn't really have the stomach for a fight today.

            Too bad he wouldn't have a choice.

            The Swiftwind scout crew leader radioed in. "Striker One, we're picking up a distress call two klicks southwest of the airfield. It appears to be rebel forces engaged with Dresari Mechs in what should be an abandoned village. Forwarding."

            Moments later, a static-filled transmission came in. "Any receiving station, Logans is down, repeat, Logans is down! Dresari ambush at Calypso station! Request all units reinforce Calypso!"

            Eric rolled his eyes upwards. Just his luck.

            The Swiftwind continued. "I'm uploading transmission origin as nav Gamma. It's your call, sir."

            Isabel suddenly retorted with "What are we, a charitable relief institution all the sudden? Are we going in, sir?"

            He hesitated, unsure whether this was a diversionary attack for his forces. If a Mech force were to descend on the air base now, the remaining Bulldogs would be overwhelmed in seconds.

            "Sir, if you don't mind me saying, I think that it's not our fight, but perhaps we shouldn't pass the opportunity to weaken Dresari further in the region," the Swiftwind officer cut in. 

            Then Eric had an idea, albeit a simple one. "Number of hostile forces attacking the rebels?" he asked the officer.

            "Shouldn't be a lot, sir. Otherwise the rebels would've been routed by now. I received the signal from a _Bushwhacker_. My sensors paint two enemy Mechs. But we can't be sure; there could be ECM-equipped Mechs."

            Eric switched channels to Isabel. "Striker Two, remain here until the convoy has finished loading and have moved out of this area. Then join me. I'm going in first."

            "Are you sure, sir? It could be a trap."

            "It's okay. I can handle myself. Watch out for yourself. This could be a diversion."

            "Roger."

            Eric pushed his throttle to the maximum and ran towards nav Gamma.

            He ran down a canyon just south of the base, almost tripping his Mech. He cursed himself for forgetting that he was using a chicken-legged Mech, which weren't really adept at climbing or descending hills. He took his time climbing the slightly inclined walls on the opposite side of the canyon, all the time checking his sensors for enemies. Behind him, Isabel reported leaving the area with the convoy, and would join him as soon as she could.

            Then his sensors blared a warning at him. It painted a contact in front of him, amongst several ruined buildings and scorched tarmac. 'That must be the village', Eric thought. His radar also detected two neutral contacts on his IFF, a _Bushwhacker_ and a _Chimera. The enemy he picked up was an __Uziel, with his back to him. He saw its twin PPC beams flash out at one of the two neutrals, hidden from his view. Then the Mech ignited its jump jets just in time to avoid some counter fire, at the same time moving out of his view as well._

            Eric's sensors showed that the two neutral Mechs were sticking to each other, probably due to some bad damage. However it made them prone to sniping attacks by the agile _Uziel_, which could snipe at them with its PPCs and pull out before being hit. Not exactly a good tactic on the rebel's side. He still couldn't see the last Mech, but he couldn't be bothered by it for now. The two rebel Mechs needed some help. He spotted the smoking wreck of an _Enforcer _lying near the other end of the village, but wasn't sure if it was a rebel or a Dresari Mech.

            Eric immediately started to pursue the _Uziel_. His LRM advantage would be negated in such close quarters but his lasers could do some telling damage anyway. He caught the _Uziel with his back turned to him, probably trying to try for a quick run to the other side of the building and snipe at the neutrals again. He was so tempted to burn through the weak rear armour, but instead decided on the spur of the moment to target the equally weak legs. Aiming carefully at the left leg joint, he triggered all his lasers. The intense beams of two large lasers instantly welded the leg joint into an unmovable mass. His two medium lasers missed, however, but the barrage was enough to cause the __Uziel to topple face-down to the ground, scraping off a few chunks of armour as it grated along the rough tarmac. The enemy pilot was quite adept, though, and managed to quickly bring his Mech up. Apparently the impact of the fall hadn't banged up the pilot's head too much yet, as he attempted to fire one PPC in an awkward shot at Eric, which Eric easily evaded. But the real purpose of the _Uziel_'s pilot was to distract Eric long enough to jump out of harm's way into a side alley. At other times, Eric might have let the __Uziel go, since there could have been another enemy Mech hiding nearby the _Uziel_._

            This time, he was out for blood.

            He charged after the _Uziel_, finding it facing him but desperately trying to stand properly with its fused leg joint. Unprepared for Eric's sudden appearance, the enemy pilot fired off a hasty full salvo which only smashed more of the ruins around it. SRMs from the Mech peppered Eric's ride a little, but hardly enough hit to even knock him around. Or knock off Eric's targeting, for the matter. Four laser beams fried off more armour on the _Uziel_'s chest, but the resultant wave of heat made Eric choke a little. He didn't pull back, however. He carried on charging at the _Uziel _and delivered a strong kick at its legs.

            Already imbalanced by a bad leg actuator and hit by a barrage of lasers in the chest, the Mech just couldn't stay up. It crashed with its back down. This time the enemy pilot must have almost lost consciousness, but he still tried to place a badly-aimed PPC shot at Eric's torso. It hit his left torso instead, ruining Eric's aim. But Eric didn't have to aim his weapons any further. He angrily placed a foot over the cockpit of the enemy Mech. Already damaged during its initial fall; it wouldn't have been able to stand the weight of the _Ryoken's foot._

            Just then, Eric felt his whole Mech shudder from the pounding it took from behind. Without both his feet to balance his Mech, he toppled over the prone _Uziel but managed to fall sideways, scraping chunks of armour from his left arm, to rest with his back against a ruined wall. _

            "Goddamnit!!" Eric cursed vehemently. He checked his sensors and found an enemy _Bushwhacker standing behind him, recycling its weapons as it prepared to loose off another alpha strike on him. It stood just a few metres away from the two Mechs lying almost side by side, and it could hardly miss Eric's cockpit at all. Eric felt a pang of panic as he quickly pushed his Mech upright, but the Mech controls seemed sluggish after the fall. The heat in the cockpit caused him to gasp for breath. His eyes swiftly looked at his damage schematics. He had lost two internal heat sinks and an unhealthy part of his fusion shielding. Drat! Furthermore, his HUD was flickering, betraying signs that the last barrage damaged his computer too. His Mech would be too slow to rise. Even if he got up in time, the savaging he would take would probably knock him down again._

            Instead, Eric's legs managed to grab a foothold against the wall his Mech laid against and he kicked with all his might (or the Mech's might). He propelled himself a short distance from the wall just as the _Bushwhacker _fired its salvo. The _Bushwhacker_'s salvo was mostly off-target but succeeded in blasting off armour on his legs. Eric's computer whined about internal damage to his leg struts. Apparently, the _Ryoken_ was really in trouble. But at least he had most of his weapons.

            Eric grasped the chance to fire a full salvo of his LRMs at the virtually stationary _Bushwhacker_. Explosions blossomed all over the Mech, tossing the enemy pilot around. The _Uziel near Eric showed signs of stirring, obviously not out of the fight yet. Wasting no time, Eric quickly pushed his Mech upright. The heat was slowing down his myomers but he managed to get one foot beneath him as he toggled for an ammunition dump, not willing to risk his missiles exploding in his Mech._

            Laser fire splashed more armour off his front torso as the _Bushwhacker had regained its composure. It was backing away from Eric, knowing that a concentrated blast of his lasers could breach its armour. The _Ryoken _seemed to let out a soft moan when the armour plates buckled and fell off due to the medium laser barrage. 'Won't be long before another hit takes out the torso,' Eric thought glumly. He got his Mech up and blasted back at the _Bushwhacker_ with his medium lasers, missing with both. His HUD couldn't display his targeting reticule well anymore. _

            The _Bushwhacker pulled out of the alley, leaving Eric and the _Uziel_ alone. The _Uziel _barely managed to get a hand on the ground before Eric contemptuously kicked it and mangled its hand. Another swift kick and the _Uziel _was left armless, and almost weaponless. Then Eric went looking for the __Bushwhacker. Sounds of weapon fire could be heard. Apparently, the rebel Mechs were engaging the _Bushwhacker_. Eric left the small clump of ruined buildings and came upon the fight. _

_            The enemy _Bushwhacker _was squaring off against both rebel Mechs in an open area. Eric noted that the rebel Mechs were so worn for wear that even a medium laser, in the right spot, could penetrate into the Mech. _

            Just as he thought of that, he witnessed the _Bushwhacker_ firing spot-on into the _Chimera_. The rebel Mech's innards appeared to glow for a while before flames poured out of the crack. Eric squinted his eyes shut, knowing what would happen next. There was a brief flash and a thunderclap, and when Eric opened his eyes again, there was only two barely discernible legs of the _Chimera_ left. The other rebel Mech was lying prone on the ground, unable to withstand the heavy blast from the destruction of his friend. It showed no sign of stirring, though the Mech didn't seem to be dead yet. The Dresari _Bushwhacker, however, was still standing and fully capable of ensuring that the rebel Mech would die._

            Not willing to witness the death of another potential ally again, Eric quickly brought his reticule on the enemy _Bushwhacker_, which had spotted his entry and was attempting to pull away. His HUD buzzed with static but Eric's aim was better this time. Twin large lasers lanced through the Mech's torso, possibly even passing through the Mech, but somehow not unleashing the fiery hell inside it. Black smoke poured out of the Mech as it fired its autocannon, achieving only a glancing hit on Eric's arms. The computer warned of excessive heat, and Eric had to flush some coolant through his engines to keep his Mech going. But instead of pulling back towards cover, he charged forward at the _Bushwhacker_. 

            The enemy pilot appeared unfazed and managed to trigger off his medium lasers, scouring a little armour off the _Ryoken_'s centre torso. He was ready for a body tackle from Eric, planting both feet firmly on the tarmac.

            Eric decided to disappoint him.

            A final barrage of lasers eviscerated the _Bushwhacker_ just as his Ryoken lurched to the side, barely missing the Dresari Mech. Eric ran on as the _Bushwhacker_ slowly crumpled to the ground. Eric had gone in close enough to plant laser shots directly on the enemy's cockpit. He thought he might have missed, but when he returned to the Mech he saw that only his medium lasers failed to hit the target. Eric muttered a silent prayer for the deceased pilot. He held no grudge against them, but he had no choice. It was either kill or be killed.

            The rebel _Bushwhacker _had finally stirred and got up. Eric made no move to help. He wondered how the rebels got so badly banged up by the Dresari Mechs.

            'Must be some wanna-be pilots,' Eric thought. Still, he'd need their help in taking out Dresari.

            Before he could toggle his comm. unit to speak, the _Bushwhacker pilot radioed over._

            "This is Lance Leader Squire of the Kentares Free Army. Identify yourself."

            Eric felt a touch of anger at being ordered by such a pilot, probably a lower-ranking one, but the feeling was short-lived. 'Awfully bossy for a charity case,' he thought.

            He replied enigmatically, "Just passing through. Thought you could use a hand."

            "Uhh …thanks." The pilot hesitated. "What unit are you in? I don't recognize the insignia."

            Eric twisted his Mech about and prepared to leave. "Just as I said, just passing through. Maybe you'll return the favour some day. Striker One, out."

            The other pilot decided not to ask any further. "Have it your way. Squire out."

            Isabel appeared on his scope just as he left the village area. She waited for him to approach before running along beside him.

            "Are you all right, Striker One? That was fast. I thought I'd get a crack at those Dresari chums!"

            Eric grinned, though Isabel couldn't see it. "Sorry, I forgot to leave some for you. If you want to, you could wait for Dresari reinforcements to arrive though."

            "Yeah, and after kicking all their butts, get promoted over you!"

            Eric laughed heartily, something he hadn't been able to do since this morning's quarrel with Mandrill.

            "Dream on, Striker Two. Escort me back to base. I've got breaches in my rear armour and I'd never last a fight, even against groundpounders, now."

            Eric was prepared to sit back in silence and have a leisurely run back to the base, but Isabel didn't let the conversation stop there.

            "Eric, sir, did you … well, Radcliffe mentioned that you had quarrelled with Mandrill this morning. Over this supply run."

            She didn't continue. Eric sighed. Radcliffe seemed to know a lot of the going-ons between him and Mandrill. Either that or the grapevine in the base extended greater than he thought. He knew Isabel was just waiting for his response, so he said, "Yeah, so?"

            Isabel cleared her throat nervously before continuing. "I won't comment on that argument, but I'd like to let you know, Eric, that Mandrill has her reasons for always trying to play by the book. It irritates, but I heard from some of our senior techs that one or two years ago, Mandrill wasn't like this. She directed operations by her heart, not her mind. Many a time, based on her intuition, she sent whole lances of Mechs to scout out just a normal farmhouse or to blast open a civilian house. Things like that." Isabel stopped for a while, presumably to think about what to say next.

            "Do you remember our operations on Calderon IV? The one where we lost a whole lance of heavy Mechs? Including Lieutenant Archer?" (A/N: A brief line in Prologue mentions Archer.)

            Eric mumbled a yes, beginning to see where Isabel was going with this revelation.

            "Mandrill was the one who directed the operation. She didn't expect the then Striker Lance to be ambushed by the rebels, and certainly not by assault Mechs aided by armour units. She was so eager to send Striker lance to give relief to that military outpost that she didn't figure on it being a trap. In the end, we lost the whole lance, and the military outpost transmission proved to be a turncoat's."

            Eric felt a huge pang of guilt. He mumbled out, "And as a result of the botched operation, we had to pull back or attain more losses."

            "Yes, Eric. The loss of that heavy lance proved too much for even us Legionnaires. They said you even led an impromptu rearguard attempt which saved the lives of a few higher-ranking Legionnaires, after your own lance leader was killed by an attack."

            Eric saw a few flashes of his past sweep by in his mind before he pushed them out. A bent-over _Centurion_, encased in flames. Missiles impacting on his _Valkyrie.He hadn't remembered the carnage for a long time already. Why did Isabel have to bring it up?_

            "What I wanted to say was, Eric, that Mandrill still is haunted by the fact that she inadvertently caused the lives of so many Legionnaires. Colonel Lawhorn gave her an extended leave and had to persuade her to return when the leave was over. The re-creation of Striker Lance did nothing to help her. The tech sergeant says that although nobody really blames her, but she has not forgiven herself yet. And she would never want to repeat the same mistake again."

            Eric sighed. He didn't reply, and this time Isabel took it as a sign to keep quiet. She did wish to add more, but it would be better to let Eric think more about it. The main reason Isabel wanted Eric to know what she had heard was simply to maintain the necessary cohesion between her lance leader and their main intel officer. She felt a little envious of Mandrill, attracting the attention of her lance leader – but then Eric wasn't such a handsome hunk anyway, she thought playfully.

A/N : I've taken out the physical impossibilities of the _Ryoken_ and the _Uziel. Might as well make an effort to keep the story as believable as possible. Sorry that I've been really slow in updating. It's my final year in university and I've got other priorities. Many thanks to those who've given me links for finding Battlemechs. Thanks to TNG for the list of Fed Suns Mechs, it eased the job. Now I'm mostly referring to Chaos March for Mech stats, so thanks a lot everyone!_

UnarmedBystander: I don't know how to play the Mechwar game. Hehe, sorry, too used to FPS style of Mechwarrior.


	13. Assault on Firebase Lambda

_Black Knight Legion Dropship Black Falcon ___

_In transit to nadir jump point_

_Corvatti Mining Colony HB-3_

_5th October 3063_

Colonel Lawhorn stood silently at the viewport in his quarters as he watched the mining planet disappear slowly. The Black Knight Legion had finally finished their duties on the planet and was now able to burn for Kentares IV. Without much information, Lawhorn wasn't sure if Striker Lance was having any problems or not, not after the Corvatti dropship _Black Spear _had left them there and escaped before the Dresari forces caught them. But the latest piece of information from Major Dupree's contacts on Kentares IV proved promising. According to the black market dealer, Striker Lance had suffered no major losses yet, which was quite incredible considering the odds against them. Amazing how fast the news travelled. Dupree certainly has some ways of getting information.

                Apparently, the Dresari loyalists were embroiled in their own civil war and could not bring any major forces to bear on Striker lance, which probably was a great stroke of luck for them. But the report of the rebellion on Kentares IV starting to falter was disconcerting. If this gets any later, Striker lance would be overrun by enemy reinforcements, unless they were able to knock out the orbital guns and create safe passage for their Legion mates. He hoped that he didn't misplace his hopes in Eric McLair. He sighed and returned to his bunk. It would be a long burn to the nadir jump point, and he might as well get some sleep first.

_Correl Peninsular_

_Kentares IV_

_5th October 3063_

                Corporal Reynolds didn't know how long he could last further. The small-sized Mechwarrior wasn't used to withstanding so much verbal and mild physical torture, at least, not this long. Nobody in his training cadre had been prepared for interrogation rooms. If he ever got back, he would make sure the stupid Sergeant in charge of his training would know how it was like to be incarcerated.

                If he ever got back.

                Another backhand slammed across his left cheek. He felt one tooth loosen and almost fall out, but then he already had lost two teeth already. Who would care?

                An angry face filled his blurry vision.

                "Hey did you hear me? Tell me who ordered you on this mission? Which unit are you from?"

                Reynolds just smirked. He wanted to give a snide comment but his throat was parched dry from hours, maybe days, of this interrogation. So he just grinned a toothless grin.

                The man 'interviewing' him wanted to backhand his face again, but suddenly another voice spoke, one with greater authority.

                "Enough, Jenkins. Let him be. Throw him into one of our temporary cells and get him some food and water."

                Jenkins abruptly whirled around to the speaker, who was still out of Reynolds's view, saluted and left. The other man followed suit, closing shut the door to the room.

                Reynolds didn't see anything more. His eyes were so tired. His eyes closed and he fell into a disturbed sleep.

                "These men are tough, sir. They might break in a few days, given more time," Sergeant Jenkins said while rubbing his sore hand. He had been slapping the two prisoners that they caught at the abandoned village for so long that his hand was almost bleeding. He knew how bad the Dresari men felt, but he didn't care. They had killed a lot of his fellow men already; the whole lot of these Dresaris loyalists.

                Lieutenant Oswald shook his head. "No Jenkins, that's enough. We didn't really need to interrogate them, and you knew it. Consider yourself lucky that I will not court martial you for this. I gave you a direct order to use just passive tactics and mild interrogation. We just wanted to confirm our suspicions."

                Jenkins protested, "But sir, these damned assholes side with that bastard Ian! I wouldn't even call him our Duke."

                Oswald gave a sharp glance at Jenkins which quieted him down. Jenkins dropped his head in resignation.

                "All right, sir. End of interrogation. What is the condition of Lieutenant Logans?"

                Oswald sat down on a chair and he watched a medic and two soldiers walked into the interrogation room to move Reynolds to his cell for further medical treatment. Then only he spoke. 

                "He'll most likely never pilot a Mech again. He .... lost his legs. The Kentares National Hospital might have the technology to save his limbs, but with our meagre resources, we can't help him." Oswald shivered at the thought of that. Nothing could be worse to a Mechwarrior than to lose the ability to pilot a Mech, ever again. "What a fool."

                Jenkins picked up on that last phrase. "Why do you call him a fool, sir? He tried to parley for Sir Karl's release; it's just that he didn't expect the Dresaris to track us down and ambush us instead."

                "That's why he was a fool! The Dresaris need not worry about these mercenaries. We are a bigger threat. We have the support of the locals in this area. We know the nooks and crannies of this terrain. We have forces hidden all over the globe. The mercs don't. Now the Dresari forces have the upper hand. Logans went ahead to tell them of their rough location without even securing Karl's release yet. He even spoke to them long enough for them to triangulate Calypso's location, leading to the attack. I wouldn't be surprised to hear a lance or two detached to hunt down these mercenaries, and soon we'd be next."

                The men left with the unconscious prisoner as Oswald held Jenkins' gaze with a sharp look. "If any one of you were to get such wise ideas again without consulting headquarters, you can be sure that there wouldn't be _any _other KFA base left for you to return to. Because we wouldn't accept total idiots as freedom fighters."

_Correl Peninsular_

_Kentares IV_

_6th October 3063_

                "The coast looks clear."

                Eric blinked when he heard the sound of his radio. He was … day-dreaming again, or actually more like night-dreaming. He picked up the radio and keyed the transmit button. 

                "Where's your location, Kilo Six?"

                "Uhh …. we're just about two kilometres off the firebase, sir. Gerard – I mean, Kilo Seven is getting into a better position to view the firebase. Just another 10 minutes, sir."

                Eric grunted, but didn't bother to rush the reconnaissance team. He replaced the radio on the table and looked around the command tent. Radcliffe was busy shuffling a deck of cards, which seemed to occupy him a lot lately, while Isabel was chatting quietly with … someone. Eric didn't recognise the person. His mind had been so distant lately that he has not taken notice of a lot of things. His eyes inadvertently swept over Mandrill, sitting further off and busy discussing something with one of her intelligence staff. She was the source of his troubled thoughts. 

                After his return from the eventful supply run, he didn't know how to handle himself around Mandrill then. Isabel's information just complicated his thoughts and jumbled his mind further. He had been quite insensitive towards Mandrill, but he didn't know how to start apologising. Instead, during the debriefing, he just sat stonily and let Isabel answer Mandrill's questions, even though Isabel hadn't really been in the fire fight with the Dresari Mechs. After the debriefing, he tried to speak to Mandrill in private but she told him matter-of-factly to go rest instead. The discussion ended there, obviously. He hasn't been able to speak to her since then. 

                What a mess.

                Right now they were waiting for a reconnaissance team to report on the status of the Mech base which they were about to hit. Mandrill had given them the briefing earlier: "We're going to need some heavier chassis before we take on the MODL patrols. Dresari has a remote Mech base in the region that may be just what we are looking for. The local rebellion appears to have enemy forces stretched pretty thin. If we can occupy the base for even a few hours, it will greatly increase our firepower throughout the operation."

                Eric didn't disagree, but he was worried about bringing along both of his best Mechwarriors along on this mission. Robert Olsen would remain on base, but his _Assassin _would barely be able to hold up to any Mech attack. Furthermore Olsen probably needed more action to train his skills. But this mission was crucial, and this was no time or place for Eric to be training any kid. Once again, Eric gave in to Mandrill's analysis of the situation. Which is probably better than facing her anger again.

                Mandrill came over and spoke to the assembled Mechwarriors.

                "I think we shouldn't delay any further. So far Kilo team has not seen any signs that we are heading into a trap. I suggest that you men and women get strapped into your mounts and power up. Time is of the essence."

                Her suggestion seemed more like an order, but Eric wasn't in any mood to nitpick. Isabel and Radcliffe were already gathering their gear and moving out of the tent. Eric quickly followed them.

                Eric found a technician already waiting for him at the base of his _Ryoken_. The technician gave him a thumbs up while Eric scaled the ladder to his cockpit. Eric just smiled slightly. He dropped into his cockpit seat and quickly started flipping switches to start up the Mech. He noticed that the system diagnostics bypassed his targeting computer, then realised that the techs had not been able to repair his computer yet. Looks like he'd be relying mostly on his gunnery skills this time. He felt a little angry that the tech didn't tell him about it before Eric jumped into the cockpit, but he was in a rush anyway, and wouldn't have time to listen to the tech.

                He was soon up and moving out of the encampment with the _Catapult _and _Bushwhacker on his six. His radio soon crackled to life. It was a lance-wide transmission from Mandrill. It seemed not long ago when Mandrill used to transmit to him alone. Eric sighed. She was probably doing it on purpose, he thought._

                "Striker Lance, be advised, the Mech base appears to be on full alert. The rebels are staging a full-blown attack on a prison facility northeast of the base we're after. The techs are held up just north of the base, and can't move in until you neutralize the base defenders. I've deployed forward recon to keep tabs on the battle lines. It looks clear for now but to be safe I'm running your nav points well away from the action. There's a comm. station at nav Alpha. Expect light point defences and possible Mech patrols. Take out the station to further disrupt Dresari's communication infrastructure."

                Eric cursed silently. He spoke into his microphone.

                "Mandrill, we should consider cancelling the op. There's – "

                Before he could finish speaking, Mandrill cut in. "Kilo Seven reports only armour and point defences on site at the Mech base. If we do not strike now, when the Dresari Mech forces return we will have more trouble on our hands. Taking out their airbase also has severely limited their fighter cover. That should keep them guessing where the next attack is coming from. Recommend we go ahead, _sir." She placed much emphasis on that last word. She was definitely in no mood to mince words. Eric winced. _

                "All right. Striker lance, move out at flank speed to nav Alpha."

_Prison Facility (East of Mech Firebase Lambda)_

_Correl Peninsular_

_Kentares IV_

_6th October 3063_

                Corporal Marian squeezed her trigger and sent 2 blazing beams of light into the flanks of a Harasser, gutting the already savaged vehicle and setting it alight. A piece of shrapnel, maybe with bits of human flesh, pinged off her _Osiris_. However, she felt no pride at the death of the vehicle crew.

                They were all her friends. Okay, used to be her friends. She still found it hard to believe that about a year ago, she was busy celebrating the death of Roland, the Archon's representative on Kentares IV. The bastard had killed off the Duke and his family, just to enforce the Archon's rule over Kentares IV. His forces threw soldiers loyal to the Duke, like her, into obscure jails and left them for dead. Fortunately Roland had failed to kill the Duke's son, Ian. Together with his uncle Peter and sister Joanna, Ian led an initially small band of rebels to a bitter victory over Roland's troops. Joanna had been killed in the fighting, and so had Sir Peter. 

It was along those lines where previous allies started to split hairs. Some felt that the death of Joanna was orchestrated by Ian in his bid to gain power, and rallied behind Karl Sonntag. Ian gathered his own loyalists to his side, and it wasn't long before the war of words turned into a full-fledged war. Another bloody civil war!

                She side-stepped the burning hulk of the Harasser and aimed at another Harasser which almost hit her with its SRMs. Her medium lasers pitted the armour on its flank and the hovercraft quickly skipped away, not intending to face her full complement of weapons. She held back on her weapons, not willing to kill more of her so-called enemies. What was she doing here, anyway? Lieutenant Oswald had sent them on this raid to try and rescue Karl from his desert prison. But the problem was that nobody was really sure where Karl was being held. This raid was turning into a nightmare. Dresari forces had reacted quickly to the attack and brought in armour and Mech forces to reinforce the prison defences. She was cut off by a wedge manoeuvre and now she was struggling to re-group with the main force. She seemed to keep getting swarmed by hovercrafts. The reports over the comm. lines weren't too good.

                "Need backup here! I've got a dozens of Condors and Harassers all over me!!!"

                "Damn it, somebody get those laser turrets!"

                "I'm hit! I'm hit!"

                Quite a number of the other pilots on this sortie were quite young and inexperienced. There were probably only two or three lances of hovercrafts around but their superb speed and manoeuvrability allowed them to harass the rebel forces easily. The rebels had already lost two vehicle transports to the hovercrafts, plus most of their ground armour. Marian was worried that even if they got found Karl _and _got him out, he would get killed when the Dresaris managed to destroy his transport. 

                Just then, her alarms wailed at her. Laserfire lit up the sky around her as she realised that she was being attacked by Mechs. She saw a _Wolfhound_ and a _Scarabus come over a ridge, gunning straight for her. She spied another _Wasp_ running up the ridge too. Armour sloughed off her as their fire became more accurate. The Dresari ground armour was pulling back but about there were almost two lances of Dresari Mechs, compared to the rebels forces of only one lance of Mechs and barely any armour assets left. How could they hope to survive?_

                "Marian! Where are you?!! We need help here!"

                Marian snapped. She whirled her Mech around and started to run. She didn't care which way she was going. She just had to run.

_Communications Station (South of Mech Firebase Lambda)_

_Correl Peninsular_

_Kentares IV_

_6th October 3063_

                Explosions lit the night as Eric's laser beams found their mark on the _Hellspawn_'s LRM ammunition bin. Eric watched in horror and fascination as the Mech appeared to twitch and jerk life-like as the ammunition robbed life out of the metal chassis. When the Mech crashed to the ground, barely metres away from another smoking _Uziel, it was with no doubt that the pilot had died in his machine. Eric felt a slight twinge of sympathy for the pilot, but he knew that in war ….. it was kill or be killed._

                The communication dish had been easily destroyed in the initial attack. Radcliffe's LRMs were more than enough to wreck the sensitive equipment and render it useless for the time being. The base defenders, the _Uziel _and the unlucky _Hellspawn responded quickly to the attack, but were quickly cut down by Eric's heavier lance. Even the base laser turrets could hardly hold up to their firepower._

                Well, that was the easy part.

                "All right, now the element of surprise is gone," Eric said over the intercom to his two lance-mates. 

                "Sure, after those brilliant fireworks, there can't be much doubt about that!" Radcliffe laughed. Eric chuckled at the remark on the _Hellspawn_'s explosions, and was about to comment on them when Mandrill cut in.

                "Striker One, activity to the northeast is increasing. Pockets of fighting are drifting all over. Some may be coming your way. Stay alert." 

                Eric clicked his radio twice in reply, not really wishing to speak any further. Hearing Mandrill's voice made him feel melancholy again. He moved up north at flank speed and his lance followed him, leaving the burning hulks of Mechs and destroyed communications station behind.

                Barely a minute has passed before there was another transmission from Mandrill.

"Striker One, forward recon reports a rebel Mech engaging Dresari forces vicinity nav Beta. I've uploaded his IFF data to your computer. Your HUD will register him as a friendly. We don't know what these rebels are really about so use caution."

The computer displayed nav Beta as just a little southeast of the Mech base, nearby their location. That's weird; the prison facility was a few klicks away. That rebel Mech was waging a battle far from his comrades. Could be a runner.

                Eric sighed softly. "Roger Mandrill. We'll watch out for him."

                Just then, his Beagle Active Probe warned him of a intermittent sensor contact. Probably the rebel Mech was in a bit of a fix. It was in the general direction of nav Beta. The thought of being left out on some action disconcerted him. Why not? He grinned.

                "I've got a possible bogey near nav Beta …. What do you think guys? Perhaps somebody needs their ass hauled out of the fire?"

                Isabel didn't quite like the idea but she couldn't talk Eric out of it. Striker lance moved toward nav Beta. Eric continued to get intermittent contacts, sometimes showing more than a few Mechs. Far off, they could see some ruby beams slicing the darkness of the night. There was evidently a battle going on.

                When Striker lance came on to the scene, Eric was lost for words. Radcliffe summed it up nicely, "Three to one! Hardly sporting of them!"

                A badly beat-up _Osiris was participating in a running fight against a _Wolfhound_, a __Wasp and a __Scarabus, and it was obvious that the __Osiris wasn't in much of a shape to run any further. The __Wolfhound's heavy laser weaponry had already severely damaged the Mech's leg actuators, limiting its speed, so that even the _Wolfhound_ could outrun the __Osiris. The outcome of the battle would be without doubt ….. until Striker lance showed up, again._

                On Eric's cue, the lance first targeted the fleet-footed _Scarabus _and the vintage model _Wasp_. LRMs and miscellaneous laser weaponry smashed armour all over the two Mechs. Their fire was pretty accurate, even from long distance, since the enemy Mechs were not aware of their presence. The _Wasp_, light on armour to begin with and also equipped with aging technology, fell to the ground, though it wasn't out of the battle yet. Eric failed to score many hits on the _Scarabus_, which deftly avoided most of his laser shots. But at least that took the heat off the _Osiris. The enemy Mech immediately disengaged the rebel Mech and turned their full attention on Striker lance._

                The _Wolfhound tagged Eric squarely on the centre torso with a blast from its PPC, causing him to stagger. Fortunately the _Wolfhound_'s other lasers either missed or were not within range. Meanwhile, the __Scarabus attempted to close in on Radcliffe to use its short-ranged lasers. The _Wasp_ staggered to its feet shakily, the pilot obviously shaken by the impact of over 20 LRMs.  _

                Without remorse, Isabel targeted the hapless _Wasp _again_ and let loose an almost full alpha strike. Her LRMs mostly missed, but her autocannon fire successfully clipped the small Mech and tore its right leg off. The Mech crashed to the ground for the final time, but not before the pilot ejected to safety. _

                Radcliffe was trying to calm his nerves, chanting "Almost, almost" while trying to attain a lock-on against the rapidly-closing _Scarabus_. For the most part, the enemy pilot was good; he was darting left and right and confusing the _Catapult_'s tracking systems. 

                Eric's _Ryoken was getting hot and he toggled to fire his medium lasers only to skimp on the heat. His fire was a complete miss as the _Wolfhound_ attempted to close in and utilise its small lasers. Its medium lasers splashed a little armour off his left arm and his left torso. Eric cursed under his breath. _

                Isabel decided that Radcliffe needed help first and brought her guns to bear on the _Scarabus. Her fire was mostly just a show of force – it forced the enemy pilot to dodge her, and allowed Radcliffe to get a lock on him easier. The _Scarabus_ was hit by no less than 30 LRMs, stripping it completely of armour. Either by luck or skill, the Mech did not fall to the ground. The pilot instantly lost heart and angled off to run back to its comrades further northeast. _

                That left the _Wolfhound. _

                That Mech once again scoured more armour off Eric's left torso, but fortunately missing with its PPC. Eric gave a louder curse this time, and this time fired his full complement of twin large lasers and twin medium lasers. His laser fire scorched armour and melted the light Mech's torso dry. The Mech barely held its ground, and before it could retaliate, Radcliffe's large lasers cored a hole into its reactor. 

                Eric thought that the enemy Mech would try to detonate itself near him, but it appeared that the pilot thought better and managed to shut down his reactor before it turned his Mech into a minor fission bomb. It fell to the ground in a salvageable heap, much to the delight of Eric. The extended range laser weaponry on the Mech would prove useful, if they could recover  it. 

                "Sir, that damned _Osiris didn't even stop to say thanks. It's gone off to the south. Lost it from my sensors a while ago," Isabel grumbled as if to say 'I told you so!'_

                Eric finally checked his sensors and found the _Osiris _just leaving his radar scope. 

                "Leave him be, Striker Three. We've done our part. We better get on with the mission."

                Isabel grunted her acceptance while Radcliffe remained quiet, probably the wiser after being ridiculed a few times by Isabel for butting in uninvited on her conversations. Striker lance moved on towards Mech Firebase Lambda.

A/N : My apologies for leaving this story dead for, like, a year now! My studies are really taking up a lot of time, and I'll be graduating soon so I'll be putting in more effort on my studies. Hope you like this latest addition though, late it may be. 


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